Between Land and Sea
by Strager
Summary: Which one will Ariel choose? The merman or the human prince? The land or the sea? (I'm mixing things up a bit :P )
1. Apollo's Return

**A/N:** Okay, this one started going around my mind after I had written the small short story in my Under the Sea –collection (you can find it here if you want: s/6643165/2/Under-the-Sea ) which is still very small. Probably going to be for some time too since I keep getting distracted. Anyways, that little story was inspired by an episode in the Little Mermaid –series, which in turn caused this one to come to life.

The character of Apollo is based on the Apollo from the episode, but aside from his name and roughly his background, I don't think my Apollo reminds him at all anymore… He's younger too in this, though he can't be too young.

Which reminds me, a matter of ages. I have no idea how long the mermaids in the Disney movies live, but I have taken that tidbit from the original story where they live three hundred years (unless I remember wrong). So even if the age difference between Apollo and Ariel seems a bit large, it really isn't. Three hundred years is a long time ;)

Okay, way too much babbling. Enjoy! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Ariel, Erik or anyone or anything belonging to Disney. I'm merely playing around. (And this covers the whole fic)

* * *

Apollo's Return

"Oh Flounder, you're such a guppy", Ariel sighed fondly as she grabbed her friends fins and tugged him out of the small round hole in the ship's hull. Her golden and blue friend popped out of the hole and he shook himself a little.

"I'm not a guppy", he argued as he moved to follow her mermaid friend glancing fearfully around in the dark of the ship.

Ariel giggled silently as she explored around the ship. While Flounder jumped and started behind her, she found an amazing silvery thing with a kind of a handle and four spikes of equal height sprouting from it. It gleamed and glittered as the light hit it. Next she found a strange thing made of the same matter as the ship, she thought, it was something called wood. It reminded her a little of a horn or some other instrument like that, but of course she couldn't be sure.

"A-Ariel", she heard Flounder call her name as she was bent down to try and dig something from the pie of wood and other broken things, trash mostly. Sometimes the best treasures could be found in piles like these.

"A-A-Ariel! A, a shark!" Flounder stammered.

"Flounder, please. There are no sharks here. Stop worrying!" Ariel said and straightened herself turning around at the same time. And coming face to face with the biggest shark she had ever seen. For a moment Ariel could only stare at it eyes wide open, frozen to the spot. But then it crashed through the window and Ariel and Flounder were swimming away as fast as they could get.

In a few short moments the ship was almost unrecognizable with the shark destroying everything in its wake as it pursued the fish and the mermaid. The chase was moved outside the ship and Ariel headed towards the rocky area where there would be more cover for them to hide. That however proved to be unnecessary as they managed to fool the shark into swimming into an anchor hoop as it pursued Flounder. Both of them were out of breath and Flounder was still shaking out of all the excitement.

Ariel giggled relieved. "Sorry", she said to the shark not sounding very sorry at all. Flounder blew a raspberry at the shark which led him to quickly retreating behind Ariel's back as the shark gave an impressing demonstration the sharpness of his teeth. Ariel laughed some more and turned to go, but found herself quickly stopping as she came upon a person right in front of her.

"Well, I see you're still the same as before", said an amused voice dryly.

Ariel raised her gaze and saw grinning face of a friend.

"Apollo!" Ariel exclaimed and rushed to embrace him. "You said you'd be gone only for awhile. It's been two years!"

Apollo chuckled. "Two years isn't that long time you know. I could've been away longer if I hadn't wanted to get back here to see you."

The statement made Ariel blush slightly and she untangled herself from the embrace carefully. Apollo watched her intently trying to gauge her feelings. As she watched his gold speckled blue eyes she was reminded of their conversation two years ago even more strongly and she began fidgeting with her hands, quite like she had back then. He was still as good looking as he had been back then with his muscular and strong body and an indigo blue tail. His golden hair flowed in the sea, some of it having strayed from his braid.

"Well, I'm glad you're back", Ariel said smiling.

"Me too", Apollo answered. "What were you doing in there by the way?"

Ariel shrugged. "Oh, you know. Being curious as usual. And going to meet Scuttle."

"Scuttle? Who's that?"

"He's a friend and a… seagull", Ariel answered slightly wary. Her father was unreasonably against anything from above the sea and she knew some of the merpeople shared that thought. Even when it was only birds. But Apollo didn't seem to be bothered by a seagull.

"Seagull? Really? But aren't they a bit… cracked?" Apollo asked interestedly.

"Well, I don't know about other seagulls but Scuttle _is_ a bit of a persona. But he is very nice and he knows awfully lot about the world above the sea, so whenever I have something I'd like to know about, I go to him."

"Oh, you have something to ask him then?" Apollo said as they started swimming towards the surface. Ariel relaxed a little now that the subject was easier. Apollo had told her two years ago that he was falling for her and then left because he needed to find himself. Ariel also thought that Apollo might have left also to give her time to come to terms with the matter that Apollo was in love with her and would probably begin courting her once he returned. That might be why he hadn't returned sooner, the Courting Age began when the child became sixteen years old and she had just had her sixteenth birthday. And even then it was considered a little early, usually courtships were started at the age of twenty and up.

Ariel had had to admit, at least to herself, that she did like Apollo a lot too. But she didn't know if she loved him, not yet. But that was what the courting was for she supposed. They would get to know each other when Apollo courted her. Though he needed to ask permission from her parents first and in her case that was the Sea King. Most mermen would be quite put out by the prospect but Apollo had the position of being a War Hero behind him. And King Triton liked Apollo.

"Yes, I do. I found some objects from the ship while I was looking around there and I'd like to see if Scuttle knows what they are", Ariel answered. Then she bit her lip apprehensively. "Do you think it's bad to look for human thingies?"

Apollo tilted his head. "No. But as long as one stays away from the humans themselves. Their things aren't that dangerous so I don't think that's so bad thing to do, but to go near the humans… One shouldn't do that. They really _are_ dangerous."

Ariel nodded pensively. At least Apollo wasn't as prejudiced as her father was. A light tough upon her shoulder woke her up from her reverie and she looked at Apollo's worried face.

"Ariel, I know you're as curious as a catfish, but you haven't been getting too close to the humans, have you? I meant what I said, they really are dangerous."

Ariel shook her head. "No, Apollo. Just looking at their thingies."

Apollo gave her a relieved smile and Ariel smiled back at him. She was a little sad though, since she had always wanted to see a human up close. By then they were by the surface and they crossed through the surface near an islet where Scuttle kept his nest. Flounder splashed next to them already heading towards the islet babbling about sharks and falling roof while swimming. They swam closer and reached the nest right when Scuttle crashed down on the hard rock in front of them.

"Hi, Scuttle", Ariel said and the seagull stumbled up right.

"Ahoy, Ariel! How ya doing?"

"I'm good, thanks. I've got some stuff with me again to show you."

"Great! Bring it on!" Scuttle said before conspiringly leaning towards her. "Who's the guy, by the way?"

"Oh, sorry. This is Apollo, a friend of mine. Apollo, this is Scuttle", Ariel introduced them to each other.

"Ooh, a _friend_. I see", Scuttle winked at the pair knowingly causing Apollo to laugh and Ariel to blush.

"Oh, stop it Scuttle!"

"What!?" Scuttle spread his wings innocently. "He looks like quite a hunk, ya know. Good on ya."

Ariel gave a little moan of embarrassment and buried her face in her hands. Apollo gave her a little nudge grinning and still chuckling.

"I like him", he declared.

Still from behind her hands Ariel said: "You would."

"Okay, let's see what ya have got me today", Scuttle said and dived into Ariel's bag. He rummaged around for awhile before finding the silvery thing. He named it a dinglehopper and told them it was used to comb hair and make different kinds of hairdo's by the humans. The other item was called a snarfblatt and it was an instrument like a trumpet making Ariel's guess back at the ship correct.

But as it was an instrument, it led them to talk about music and Ariel suddenly remembered where she was supposed to be today.

"Oh no! The concert!" she moaned. "Dad's going to kill me!"

She dashed off as if the shark was still after her speeding through the seaweed and kelp fields, cliffs and canyons, coral forests and finally the city. The others were almost left behind. But by the time she got back to the palace, it was too late and the concert had been ruined.

xXx

Apollo winced as he heard the tongue lashing Ariel was receiving. From both the King and Sebastian. He tried to stay farther in the corridor to give them some privacy, but he probably could've stayed in the other end of Atlantica and still hear the yelling. So he tried his best not to listen and occupied himself with the artifacts scattered in the hall. He was good at that, being a soldier and all.

He couldn't however not to notice, when the voices changed from lecturing to someone into a downright fight between father and daughter. He furrowed his brows. He didn't think they had been this quarrelsome before, but perhaps he had been mistaken. After all, the last time he had been here hadn't been for long. They had mostly spent the time traveling.

Finally the arguing stopped and Ariel swam from the room obviously distraught and not seeing anyone she passed. Apollo watched as Flounder trailed her relieved that she had someone to keep her company. Apollo straightened out as he was called into the great hall and swam on. He found the King sitting on his throne with Sebastian next to him on a smaller dais. The King seemed a little unhappy at the moment, but Apollo figured that a fight with family always left one a little unhappy. And the King and Ariel were equally stubborn, he had found out.

"Apollo! How great it is to see you again!" the King said smiling welcomingly.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. It is great to be here", Apollo answered bowing low.

"What brings you here?"

"Well, Your Majesty, last time I was here you offered me a position in the palace guards. I turned it down because I felt I needed some time to think, but I've done my thinking now and I was wondering if the offer might still be standing", Apollo said.

The King smiled at him happily. "Of course the offer still stands, Apollo. You are a great warrior. We in the palace will feel ourselves more protected than before if you are here, I'm certain."

Apollo smiled a little uneasily. "I'm glad you think so, Your Majesty."

"Splendid. Sebastian here will show you around and help you get settled in. We shall talk more later. I wish to hear all about your adventures in the last two years, young man", the King chuckled.

Apollo gave a bow. "Yes, Your Majesty. Thank you."

He turned to follow Sebastian who was already swimming out of the hall. And for the next half an hour he got to keep a slightly pained smile on his face as Sebastian praised him from the bottom of the sea to the high skies. When he finally had to return to his other duties, Apollo breathed a sigh of relief and started unpacking his small amount of belongings in the simple room that he would be living in at the barracks.

xXx

Ariel gritted her teeth as she swam towards her secret cave. Why couldn't her father understand? It wasn't like she was swimming right under the humans noses. She was just interested in their stuff that was lying _under_ the sea, not above it. Of course there was the fact that she would actually like to see humans up close, but that would be something that probably shouldn't be told to her father. He was mad enough already. She hoped that Apollo's return would put her father in a better mood. He liked Apollo and he had been a little disappointed when Apollo hadn't stayed two years ago.

Ariel smiled slightly as she thought about Apollo. It made her really happy that he was back. She had missed him and now that he was back they could get into many adventures together. That was what Ariel liked him about, he had the same kind of adventurer spirit as she did and he wasn't as forbidding about human things as her father was. Then Ariel sighed slightly frustrated. About going close to the humans, though, he was.

So no company from him in those trips if she ever got around to go and see humans. She hadn't had a chance yet, but someday she would go up and spy on some humans and find out what they used some of their things for. For now though, she would settle for her treasures and collecting them. Ariel slipped through the entrance of her cave. For once she was alone in here. Usually she was here with Flounder, but he had had something to do with his family and Ariel got to come here alone for a change.

She took her treasures she had found and placed them into proper places. Then she swam a little away and let herself sink slowly to the cave's floor and enjoyed her collection. It had grown over the years and was now filling up nearly the entire cave. Ariel sighed. Why wouldn't father understand? They couldn't be all bad, the humans. There was good in everything, surely in the humans too.

Ariel rolled over to her stomach and played with the sand. Wonder if Apollo would like to see her collection, she thought. Her hand stilled in the sand as she thought about the golden haired merman. She wasn't sure how she felt about the man. She knew she liked him and she thought she liked him more than just a friend since her stomach was prone to give little flips if she as much as thought about him. Like now, for example. And now that he was back she noticed it was hard to stay angry and think about her father when her thoughts kept straying to Apollo, to things he had said and done, to his handsome looks and deep blue eyes with those beautiful golden specks in them.

And she really wanted to spend more time with him, to learn more about him. Things she hadn't learned in their adventure two years ago. She knew Apollo liked her. In fact he might even be in love with her, since he had told her that she had taken his heart when he had been leaving two years ago. She just wondered when would they have time to be together when Apollo was taking the position in the palace guards? He would be working often when she was swimming around with her friends and she knew Apollo would take his job seriously.

Well, he would have days off, Ariel thought. They'd need to use those then. Maybe someday she could show him her collection. Ariel giggled suddenly as a thought occurred to her. Apollo would no doubt look quite dashing in his palace guard's armor.

xXx

A week had passed and Apollo had adjusted to the life in the palace quite well. He had always had a good sense of direction so he didn't even get lost anymore. Which for a guard was a pretty good thing. The other guards had taken him as one of their own happily, though some problems had risen from a few fans, who wouldn't shut up about his 'accomplishments' at the Octopun War. Granted, he no longer was the same cowardly man he had been then since he had found his courage, but that didn't mean he liked to be reminded about it. Aside from a few sharp words he had managed to be relatively polite.

This had also caused him to try and avoid Sebastian as much as he could, since he was among the worst admirers. Unfortunately he was often with Ariel, even when Apollo was there with her whenever he had the free time, since the King had ordered the crab to look after his young wayward daughter. In those times he just tried to grit his teeth and not to stuff him into some small and dark place where it would take him hours to get out. The crab had the uncanny ability to be one of the most annoying persons Apollo had ever encountered.

The week had been busy, there had been many diplomatic events and many dignitaries had been visiting in Atlantica. So the guards had been busier than normal and Apollo's first week had been a little chaotic since he hadn't known the ways of the house yet. But now it was calming down, for awhile at least, and King Triton had invited him for lunch and to talk about his adventures to him, now that he finally had the time.

Apollo had had lots to tell so the lunch had stretched on long into the afternoon. As the lunch progressed he was getting more nervous by the minute. He had decided that he would ask from the Sea King permission to court his youngest daughter today. Unfortunately, while facing the father of your loved one was always slightly nerve wracking, when that father happened to be the Ruler of the Seven Seas it took the whole matter into new proportions. He had tried acting normally, but he supposed some of his nerves must've shown through since by the time they finally reached dessert the King asked what was bothering him.

"Well, Sire, there is something I'd like to ask and I've been trying to phrase the question", Apollo answered, still trying to think how he would ask his question.

"Well, what would you like to ask, Apollo?" the King said still seeming to be in a good mood, which was good.

Apollo drew a steadying breath. "Your daughter Ariel, Your Majesty, is the most amazing person I've ever met and I've grown to be quite taken with her. I wished to know if I could have your permission to court her."

The King was staring at him frowning. Apollo tried to swallow silently.

"The permission to court Ariel, hmm?" the King hummed.

Apollo allowed himself to relax ever so slightly. The King had not lost his temper yet which was good. He would probably have good chances to get out of this alive at least. Hopefully in one piece as well.

"And do you know how she feels?" King Triton queried.

"I think she feels the same way. At least she didn't reject me when I asked her what she thought about me courting her, Your Majesty."

The King nodded still pondering. Then he nodded more determinedly apparently reaching a decision. "Very well, you may court my daughter, Apollo. I like you and I would be very happy to see her with you."

Apollo smiled part happily and part relieved. His smile didn't last long however when he noticed the King glaring at him.

"But mark my words, Apollo. Do not hurt my little girl. You would not like the consequences."

This time Apollo swallowed audibly. "Yes, Your Majesty. I won't. Wouldn't dream of it."

King Triton laughed heartily and waved his hand to the servants. "Come, let's have a toast in honor of your courtship to my daughter!"

xXx

Ariel glanced around her before coming out of the cave fully and turning to close the mouth of the cave with a large rock. She had been taking her latest treasures to her hideaway and now it was starting to get late and she knew her father would worry if she wasn't home before nightfall. Especially since she was not supposed to be wandering around at the moment.

Ariel hoisted her bag o her shoulder when she heard her name called. Ariel looked around not seeing anyone until she noticed a figure peeking behind the rocks.

"There you are", Apollo said. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Oh, you have?"

Apollo swam next to her and Ariel looked at him expectantly.

"Yes", Apollo dug his hand into a bag of his own rummaging through it. "I wanted to give you something."

Ariel tilted her head. "What is it?"

"Well, a gift", he said still trying to find it. "I asked your father a permission, and blessing, to court you" – Ariel's stomach gave once again one of those strange flips – "and he said yes. So I thought I'd give you something to celebrate it."

Ariel's eyes widened. "He actually said yes?"

Apollo nodded and grinned at her mischievously. "I think he hopes that my courting you would make you calm down a little."

Ariel gave a burst of laugh before she could stop herself. Her eyes widened and she looked at Apollo. He raised a brow.

"Oh, don't worry. I have no intention to do anything of the sort. I'd just get myself a headache", the last part was said in a teasing manner.

Ariel narrowed her eyes. "Are you implying that I'm difficult?"

Apollo took on an innocent look. "No, no. Nothing of the sort."

"Right."

Apollo grinned and pulled his hand from the bag holding a smallish wrapped box. He held it out for Ariel to take who did so turning the package curiously in her hands.

"What's in it?"

"Well, open it and find out."

Ariel swam to a rock nearby and sat down, Apollo following suit. She unwrapped the present carefully revealing a plain, but well made box. She fiddled with the opening mechanism for a moment before lifting the lid. Inside, cushioned by seaweed, was an obviously human made statue. But what made it even more amazing was that it presented a mermaid sitting in a rock combing her hair and, judging by the looks of the face, singing.

Ariel looked at it eyes wide. "It's beautiful!" Ariel traced the statue with her fingers. The mermaid was very beautiful though the proportions seemed to be a bit off. Like the tail was not quite big enough to look like she could swim very well with it.

"How… why… They make statues of us?" Ariel stammered amazed.

"Apparently", Apollo answered. "Do you like it?"

Ariel turned and hugged Apollo tightly. "Yes! Yes I do. Thank you."

Apollo wrapped his strong arms around her and smiled. Ariel backed up enough to see Apollo's face.

"Really, I love it. Where did you find it?"

"When I was traveling. It made me think about you", Apollo said with a soft smile and watchful eyes. He seemed bent on capturing every facial expression that crossed Ariel face. Ariel smiled, pleased, and glanced to the side. Apollo lifted a hand and brushed some of her hair behind her ear.

"I was thinking", he began. "I have a couple of days off in a few days and now that I have a permission to take you everywhere, I have this place I know of that might interest you. Would you like to see it? It would be a daytrip at least, though we'd have more time to spend there if we took seahorses."

"What kind of a place?" Ariel asked and seeing Apollo's expression continued resignedly. "Wait. Let me guess. It's a surprise."

Apollo smiled charmingly. "Oh, yes."

Ariel smiled back. "Well, then it's a good thing I like surprises."

Ariel untangled herself from the embrace and looked down upon the statue. It would be great if she could take it to her room in the palace, but her father had forbidden her from bringing human objects there. So she would need to keep it in her secret cave. Ariel hesitated for a moment. Could she show it to Apollo? She thought she could. Apollo had said he didn't have anything against human things and he had given her a human thing as a present.

Ariel turned her face to look at Apollo closely pondering whether to trust him with her secret or not. Apollo tilted his head inquisitively.

"What is it?"

"Just wondering", Ariel said.

"And what are you wondering?"

"If I could show you my secret place or not."

"I promise not to tell", Apollo said grinning disarmingly.

Ariel smiled. "Alright. Come on."

She swam to the rock covering the cave's mouth and pushed it aside. Apollo followed her curiously. Ariel sneaked through the opening and Apollo tried to squash himself through the tight opening. It took a little wriggling for him to move, but once past the mouth of the cave the tunnel widened enough for him to move more comfortably.

Ariel waited him in the cave holding the statue close to her in a nervous gesture. She watched Apollo carefully as he came to the cave and got his first look at the contents inside. His eyes widened and a look of wonder spread on to his face. He made a slow circle taking it all in trying to see everything at once.

"Whoa", was the only thing he could think of saying.

Ariel fiddled with the statue. "It's my… collection."

Apollo turned to glance at her still wide eyed. "How long have you been collecting to get all of these in here?"

Ariel gave a small and a little proud smile. "Years."

She went and looked for a place for the statue. "I can't take anything that has anything to do whit humans to home, because father doesn't like them so I started bringing them here and that's how it started, I suppose. Now I don't think I could bring these home anymore because there probably wouldn't be any space for them.

Apollo nodded and commented in a dry tone. "I see your point."

Ariel glanced at him with a mock annoyed look and continued finding a place for the statue. Finally she found the perfect place where the light from the high up hole in the roof of the cave hit the statue just right, illuminating the small mermaid combing her hair. Apollo went on to take a closer look at everything in the cave asking questions when seeing something interesting. Meaning he asked a _lot_ of questions.

They spent a long time talking and looking through Ariel's collection. Eventually they noticed how time had gotten away from them and that it was nearly midnight already. Ariel winced as she thought about her father's reaction, but Apollo comforted her by saying to blame him. And in a way it was his fault since if he hadn't come by with his gift, Ariel would be home by now.

As they swam towards the palace Ariel laid a hand on Apollo's arm. "You won't tell my father, will you?"

Apollo smiled at her and bent down to give her a peck on the cheek. "I won't. I promise."

Apollo continued forward but Ariel stayed frozen to the spot hand slowly rising to her cheek where Apollo had kissed her. She felt her cheeks warm up a little and gave small delighted grin before rushing to follow Apollo.

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**A/N:** So, the first chapter. Review's are appreciated :3


	2. Erik

**A/N: **I think I forgot to mention, as I was planning to, that I'm messing with the timelines of the movie in here as well somewhat, so this story will happen in a longer time period than the movie.

This one's a bit confusing, since I actually _have_ most of this story written, the last chapter is still under way plus the inevitable tweaking with every chapter before I dare to publish them… usually I only have a few chapters at most when I start putting them here o.O

Thank you for the reviews! And I'm so happy that you like Apollo. I was a bit worried if I wrote him right or not.

But, enough of my ramblings. Here's the second chapter. I hope you'll like it :)

* * *

2. Erik

Apollo twisted around and struck the pursuing shark hard with his tail. With a deep groan the shark lost his consciousness and sank down revealing the other shark after the merman. Apollo swam up from the middle of the wrecked ships and spotted Ariel running away from the third shark. He got an idea and grinned heading towards Ariel as fast as his tail could get him. He gave a sharp whistle getting Ariel's attention and motioning her to swim towards him. Next he proceeded to make a colliding motion with his hands hoping Ariel would get his meaning.

Judging by the grin that spread on her face she understood him well. They sped up, the sharks hot in their tails. Ariel pointed at Apollo and motioned first to left and then right, asking which way he was going to turn. Apollo smiled and pointed to his left and Ariel answered to his smile nodding her understanding. Right before they would have collided with one another they twisted aside, both to their lefts and the sharks, going too quick and being too close to be able to turn anymore, hit each other with a magnificent thump.

Ariel and Apollo circled up and watched side by side as the sharks sank down towards the ships laughing out of exhilaration and relief.

"That was close", Ariel managed to get out between her giggles.

Apollo laughed. "Yeah."

They stayed put to even their breathing and Apollo looked up.

"We should probably start heading back so that we get beck home before night fall", Apollo said.

Ariel sighed regretfully. "Must we?"

"Well, I'd prefer it. Otherwise your father's going to hang me from my tail and use me for target practice", Apollo winced at the thought.

"No he wouldn't", Ariel argued. "He wouldn't do something like that."

"Yeah, he would."

"No way!"

Bickering they made their way away from the huge canyon full of sunken ships where Apollo had brought Ariel. He had stumbled upon the canyon in his travels and thought that the princess might have liked it. It had been an understatement. She had loved it. Even now as they made their way to the seahorses he could see her glancing back towards the ships between words and sentences.

He had not been prepared for the sharks though. They had not been here last time. Granted, the last time he had been here was five years ago. Luckily they had managed to take care of them just fine. Just in case however, he decided not to mention the sharks to anyone. No matter what Ariel said, he really wanted to stay in one piece and away from any target practice with the King.

"Do you want to have something to eat before we go? I'm pretty hungry", Apollo asked when they stopped next to the seahorses.

"Actually, me too. It's probably from all that swimming from the sharks", Ariel answered.

Apollo snorted and started pulling their foods from the saddlebag. Ariel took some of them and moved to sit down a bit farther from the horses. Apollo joined her and they dug in. After they had quenched the worst of their hunger Ariel turned to Apollo.

"Thank you, for bringing me here. This place is amazing."

"You're welcome", Apollo answered.

Ariel frowned slightly. "But what about you?"

Apollo looked at her puzzled. "What about me?"

"Well, you are always taking me somewhere where I like to go or we do something I like doing. Shouldn't we do something you like doing too?" Ariel said.

Apollo laughed. "Really, it's okay. And I like going to the places you like to go, it never gets boring, you know."

Ariel frowned at him. "Maybe, but still. What do you like to do? I'm curious."

Apollo pretended to look at her warily. "Oh dear, she's curious. I better do as she wants then. Otherwise I might not survive the day."

"Apollo!" Ariel thumped her tail against his in exasperation.

"Alright, alright. Keep your tail on", Apollo gave a placating gesture.

Ariel crossed her arms.

"Like I said I do like going to the places you like going. And I like dancing, especially with you", Apollo leered at her grinning causing Ariel to blush slightly. "I like to read and I like to listen to music since I'm not good at it myself."

"You like reading? But you…" Ariel's voice trailed away.

"What? Are you saying that a big guy like me can't be the studious type?"

Ariel shook her head vigorously. "No. Sorry."

Apollo smiled at her to show that he wasn't offended.

"What do you like to read?" Ariel asked.

Apollo shrugged. "A bit of everything, I suppose. Though I find history particularly interesting. And then I like knives."

"Knives?"

Apollo nodded. "I guess you could say that I collect knives and daggers like you collect human things. Though I make some too."

Ariel's eyes widened. "You make knives?"

"Yes. My father was a weapons smith and he taught lots of it to me too. I can do other weapons as well, but I like knives best for some reason."

Ariel grinned. "Can you show me sometime?"

"To make knives?" Apollo asked surprised to which Ariel nodded. "Sure. I've got a couple of projects lying around."

Ariel got the sudden urge to hug Apollo. He was so different from all the other mermen she knew. And she had met many mermen, all of the daughters of Triton had, even though she was only sixteen. She couldn't imagine what it was like for Attina, for example, who was the eldest of them and had had to fend off unwanted suitors much longer than Ariel had.

Though Ariel wasn't sure how unwanted the suitors were for them. She was the wild one of the seven, the others were calmer and more… like other merfolk, Ariel supposed. Ariel had always felt awfully constricted with them. They weren't like her and they were always saying she shouldn't be doing this and that. Much like her father really.

Apollo… Apollo felt different. Ariel didn't feel caged in with him and while he had made his opinions clear on many things, like humans for example, he had still managed not to do it so that Ariel would have felt like she was being told what to do. She felt like Apollo trusted her to know what she was doing and when she didn't know, he trusted her to not to do anything stupid. Well, most of the time anyway, he did appear a little worried sometimes when the subject turned into humans.

Ariel gave in to her urge and wrapped her arms around Apollo surprising him. Apollo returned the gesture slowly after the initial surprise had worn off.

"Ariel? What is it?"

"Nothing. Just happy that you are you", Ariel answered her head buried in the crook of his neck.

Ariel enjoyed the feeling of being held for sometime before lifting her head up and backing up a bit. Apollo didn't let go of her however. He looked at her carefully.

"Everything okay?"

Ariel smiled a little shyly and nodded. "Yeah. Sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about. I find this situation quite comfortable", he said smirking mischievously.

Ariel's eyes widened and suddenly she realized just how close they were. And she was getting even closer to Apollo as he adjusted his hold on her. Their faces were so close that their noses almost touched. Slowly, as if handling a wild animal, Apollo closed the gap giving Ariel time to back away. She didn't, instead she closed her eyes and soon felt Apollo's lips connecting with hers.

Time seemed to slow down and speed up at the same time. The kiss felt like it took forever, but then the forever wasn't enough. She would've wanted ten, no hundred, more forever's. Ariel wrapped her arms around Apollo's shoulders more tightly and likewise Apollo tightened his grip on Ariel pressing her even closer to himself. Apollo tilted her head slightly and deepened the kiss until they had to part out of lack of oxygen.

Ariel felt a little shaky as they tried to calm their breathing, Apollo placing light kisses alongside her jaw. Ariel changed her position until she was sitting on Apollo's lap.

"How much time do we have until we absolutely have to leave?" she asked breathlessly.

Apollo laughed. "Plenty. And not nearly enough!" the last part was said in a tone that did strange things to Ariel's stomach causing her to giggle as Apollo proceeded to kiss her silly.

xXx

Ariel sighed frustrated as she swam away from the palace with Flounder carrying her bag of treasures with her. She had been exploring once again finding amazing gadgets but once returning home she realized she had once again missed a few classes. Her father had not been pleased and it had quickly turned into a huge row especially when Flounder had tried to help and spilled where they had been.

She had felt a little better when she had passed Apollo who had (after checking that her father was _nowhere_ near them) made an exaggerated impersonation of her father and even shook his finger to her scolding. He really knew how to make her smile. An unintentional smile rose to her lips as she thought about Apollo. Every time she thought about him really. He had been here for two moon cycles and Ariel was head over fins in love with him. As he seemed to be with her.

Ariel stopped to open the rock to her grotto and she let Flounder swim through the tunnel before following him and moving the rock back to place. She took her bag and took the human things out and started to find suitable places for them. As she searched she complained about her father to Flounder who listened compassionately.

It wasn't until a huge crash drew their attention that they noticed someone had sneaked into the grotto behind them. Ariel's heart stopped at the mere thought that Sebastian might tell her father about her secret collection. Sebastian was just about to drag her back to the palace when a shadow darkened the grotto and all three of them looked up. Something was passing them from above.

Ariel swam outside and, upon noticing with a surge of excitement rushing through her that it was a ship, headed to the surface ignoring Sebastian's calls to return at once. She surfaced into a cool night air, the full moon peeking through the clouds in the sky. In the distance she saw a real, un-sunk ship sailing calmly through the waves with some strange lights shooting off of the ship to the sky and exploding into magnificent balls of color.

Ignoring Sebastian's desperate calls Ariel swam closer until she could hear the music played up in the deck. She smiled. Anyone who could make music like that couldn't be evil, right? Ariel moved right next to the ship and hoisted herself up until she reached a good place to spy from a hole in the ships walls. The light was warm and the music joyful as the human men played and danced in tune with the music. A strange hairy creature ran around the deck amongst the men and let out strange sounds.

Apparently the creature had a very good sense of smell as in no time he was sniffing around and heading her way. Spooking out a bit Ariel hid, hoping it would go away. When she didn't hear him anymore she thought he had gone away and dared to peek around the corner only to find that the hairy creature was there and ready to give her a big and wet lick. Anything else he didn't have time to as he was apparently called somewhere else. Ariel wiped her cheek absentmindedly and followed the creature with her eyes.

And then she saw the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. It was a young human man and he was handsome, beautiful more like. He was perfect, in build, in grace and even in looks. He had black, pitch black hair that flowed in gentle waves around his face, kind face that looked sure at the same time and light gray-blue eyes that reminded Ariel of the morning twilight at the sea. He was petting the hairy creature for a moment before drawing out a snarfblatt and joining the other musicians in their play dancing around with the creature.

Ariel sighed and was about to lay her head down to her arms when Scuttle appeared out of nowhere holding a racket that would have woken the dead. Ariel sushed him quickly and they exchanged few words before Ariel focused on watching the beautiful human. Apparently all the music and dancing was for him, for his birthday party. Ariel thought it amazing that humans had birthday parties as well. They weren't so different from the merfolk after all.

As the old human spoke Ariel found out that her beautiful human was called Erik. They moved near her as they spoke and when the subject turned into Erik's love life, Ariel couldn't but smile wistfully when Erik said he was waiting for the right one. And that he knew they would meet eventually. Their conversation was interrupted then by a series of lightnings and a strong wind almost knocking them over.

Ariel frowned a bit worried. That wasn't normal. Her father must have gotten really bad news for a storm to brew up suddenly like this. She just hoped the news weren't about her…

As the storm progressed, Ariel watched in horror what happened in the ship. She saw now firsthand what had sunken many of the ships she had found at the bottom of the sea. Her heart nearly stopped beating when she saw Erik still in the ship when it exploded. With a terrified heart she dived into the rubble and searched for her human. Finally she found him and not a moment too late as he was just about to sink under the waves.

Ariel grabbed him and holding his head above the water started swimming towards land. It took her half of the night when she had to battle against the sea that was still raging. It finally calmed down when the dawn was approaching, just when she reached the land. Ariel dragged Erik close to the shore and there, with some difficulty, on to the shore to lay upon the sand.

Ariel stared at Erik concerned. She didn't if he had survived the storm or not and she didn't know how she could find out. Scuttle came to her aid and tried to see if he could find his pulse but was unsuccessful in trying to make it out from the foot. To her enormous relief Erik drew a deep breath at that moment and Ariel sighed, thanking the Sea for saving this one human. She was so happy that she began singing to him and as the first rays of the sun hit them he opened his eyes. A look of wonder spread to Erik's face, though he was still as groggy and confused as ever.

The bark of the hairy creature from the ship snapped Ariel out of her singing and made her realize that she was about to get caught by humans. A short life time of warnings and scary stories about humans had some effect even in her and she was momentarily spooked and she quickly returned to the ocean diving deep in to the water as she could. She found herself a rock from a safe distance and watched as the old human came to collect Erik and half carried him away.

Ariel laid down on the rock content to watch the empty beach the whole day, dreaming about Erik. However that was not to be as Sebastian and Flounder came to remind her that firstly, her father would grow concerned, and secondly, what about her breakfast plans with Apollo. It was the second part that made her start and a mountain of guilt nearly crushed her as she realized she had been here all night fantasizing about a human man when Apollo had been eagerly waiting for their breakfast together.

With a nagging conscience Ariel dived into the depths and sped up for home causing even Flounder to fall behind.

xXx

"Ariel? Ariel?"

Ariel snapped her up having almost fallen asleep. Her eyes met Apollo's who was watching her concerned. Ariel flushed red with embarrassment.

"Oh, I'm sorry Apollo", she said apologetically. "I didn't mean to almost fall asleep like that."

"It's okay, but is everything alright?" he said. "You're not usually this tired in the mornings."

Ariel's conscience nagged at her. "Yes, everything's fine. I just was caught up late outside yesterday when I had to come home through Dad's storm. I didn't get in until late and then I couldn't get any sleep."

Apollo smiled at her, feeling for her. Swimming against a storm was heavy work and if the storm was brewed up by the Sea King it was often even harder. "Well, a good breakfast should help at least some. Here, have some kelp rolls."

Apollo blinked and bent down to see Ariel who was leaning against him. She was completely asleep. She even gave a cute little snore when he moved her by accident. Apollo trailed a hand over her features gently and sighed amused. He put some gold shells to the café table and took Ariel into his arms. He would better get her to her bed to sleep properly. He would have time to do that before he needed to report to duty.

xXx

Ariel giggled as she laid down on a rock and held a flower in her hand that she was currently picking the petals off.

"He loves me", a petal sank to the ground.

"He loves me not", this was said disdainfully.

"He loves me", Ariel giggled again picking the petal from the flower. Suddenly a head with a golden hair stared at her upside down an eyebrow amusedly arched.

"I hope that means me", Apollo said teasingly and smiled at her brightly.

Ariel started and fumbled with the flower. "Of- of course it means you!"

Ariel laid the flower down, confused but hoping it wouldn't show. She really did mean it when she said that the petal meant Apollo. But she also knew that she had been thinking about Erik. She didn't know what to do about her emotions. How could she be so infatuated with two men at the same time? She had been trying to think about this whole week, once or twice sneaking off to see Erik from a distance, and she couldn't say which she loved more. When she searched her feelings and her heart she only found that she held an equal amount of love for both men.

And she didn't know what to do. She loved being with Apollo, but while here she longed to be up there, above the sea with Erik. And when she was watching Erik, her thoughts strayed down to the fathoms below and Apollo. She knew she couldn't have both. But how could she give one of them up?

Ariel started as Apollo tapped her nose gently.

"You are being far too silent and serious to be normal for you. Maybe this will cheer you up", Apollo grinned and gave her a quick kiss in the lips. "You're it."

Then he laughed and was off drawing a surprised laugh from Ariel. "No fair! You had a head start!" she let the flower fall down and rushed after him.

Sebastian watched her go and sighed, Flounder joining him. They had both noticed how more silent than normal Ariel had become. Even Apollo seemed to have noticed it. However Apollo did not know the reason for Ariel's quietness or about the trips she made to the surface to watch the human.

Sebastian and Flounder had both tried to talk some sense into her, failing spectacularly. Ariel didn't listen to either of them, though mostly she didn't listen about Sebastian. Flounder had given up few days ago and now just watched concerned and wowing to stay by her side no matter what she got herself into.

Most of all Sebastian was terrified that the Sea King would find out about Ariel saving a human and apparently falling in love with him. Bracing himself Sebastian headed back to palace to resume his duties and Flounder disappeared somewhere on his own. Sebastian only hoped that Ariel would take the right path in time.

As Sebastian was returning to the palace, Ariel and Apollo continued their kiss tag, swimming around and between the rocks and corals until they tired themselves out. They lay down upon the seafloor, Ariel lying down on her back and Apollo on his side propping himself up with his right arm. He looked down at Ariel.

"Is everything okay, Ariel? You have been awfully quiet lately", Apollo asked. He had noticed that ever since the stormy night a week ago, Ariel had been more serious than was normal for her. He was worried, but he figured Ariel would tell him when she was ready. Ever since they first met they had never been the type to keep secrets from one another. So he trusted he would find out eventually.

It didn't stop him from asking though.

"Fine. I've just… been thinking. That's all", Ariel answered staring up at the surface with a faraway look upon her face. Apollo reached out a hand and began playing with her hair.

"Thinking? About?"

"You. Love. Humans", Ariel answered and Apollo blinked in confusion.

"Humans?" Apollo looked at Ariel questioningly. "I get me and love, but how do humans fit into that picture?"

But for that question he didn't get an answer. Ariel merely hummed in that divine voice of hers and stared up for moment before leaning over to push Apollo down on his back and scooting into his side laying her head on top of his chest. Apollo looked at her even more confused before sighing resignedly and relaxing. It was a beautiful day and he got to spend it leisurely with the mermaid he loved next to him.

Ariel moved her hand on Apollo's chest in small circles battling thoughts and conflicting emotions troubling her once again.

They laid there for a long time until Flounder came to get Ariel saying there was something he wanted to show her. Ariel rose up and looked at Apollo who smiled.

"I was going to have to go in a moment as well", he said. "I have a meeting with a friend."

"Okay, I'll see you later, then", Ariel said.

Before Ariel could swim off however, Apollo took her hand and drew her to his arms giving her a breathtaking kiss for goodbye.

"See you later", Apollo said before he laid a hand on his chest a top of his heart and then moving the hand on top of Ariel's heart. "I love you."

Ariel's eyes widened and she smiled brilliantly. That was the first time he had actually said it to her. Still smiling Ariel repeated the gesture. "I love you too."

Apollo gave her an equally bright smile and turned to go, swimming swiftly towards the city. Ariel watched him go fiddling with the necklace she gotten from him when they had been at the market place the day before yesterday. She looked at Flounder.

"What did you want to show me?"

Flounder motioned her to follow him. "I'll show you. It's in your grotto."

Foulder glanced at where Apollo had disappeared to with a slightly nagging conscience. Seeing Apollo and Ariel together made Flounder doubt about his surprise. Maybe he ought to have left it where he found it? But then again, it was just a statue, right? It couldn't do any harm and Ariel would love it. Flounder nodded to himself, he was just being a guppy again.

Flounder led her to the grotto and swam into the cave Ariel right behind him. The look on her face when she saw the statue of Erik made Flounder forget all the doubts he had had about bringing it here. She was so happy.

"Flounder! How did you-? It's perfect!"

Flounder smiled pleased. "I thought you might like when I found it."

Ariel bent down to give him a kiss and then proceeded to fool around with the statue finally settling down to watch Erik's face with a dreamy expression. She giggled happily and moved to twirl around the cave. Stopping, she finally noticed him staying in the shadows with a forbidding expression on his face.

Ariel froze and she felt like her blood froze with her. "Daddy."


	3. The Deal with the Sea Witch

**A/N:** I'm being energetic and getting the next chapter out this quickly :) The last part is finished as well, finally (it only took six months or so…), so now there's just left going through them before I put them here, while I ponder about the sequel for Six Years Later.

Oh, in case someone doesn't remember (or haven't found it) Sea Biscuit is the name of the little seahorse who announces folks in the palace.

* * *

3. The Deal with the Sea Witch

With a troubled countenance Sebastian swam swiftly to the palace meeting Sea Biscuit halfway there. Sebastian gulped as the tiny seahorse conveyed the King's summons to him. Every time he was summoned Sebastian felt as if he was inches away from the jaws of the shark and one wrong move and he would be shark bait. Every time he went in front of the King he was sure the King had found out about the human Ariel had saved.

Sebastian swam faster even though he really wanted to take all the time in the world. When he reached the throne room he had once again worked himself up into such a worry that he didn't even notice the flower the King quickly hid behind his back as Sebastian entered the room. Gulping Sebastian resumed a dignified pose and moved towards the throne where King Triton was waiting him.

Sebastian bowed to the King. "Yes, Your Majesty?"

"Sebastian. I'm concerned about Ariel", the King started. "Now, I told you to look after her. Have you noticed her acting strange lately?"

"Strange, Your Majesty?" Sebastian managed to choke out. He was nearly hyperventilating. The King knew! He was doomed.

"Yes. Daydreaming, more than usual that is, singing to herself, giggling at her own thoughts… You haven't noticed anything?"

Sebastian tried to say something intelligent but only managed to babble nonsense. The King motioned him to come next to him. He swiftly positioned himself at the King's armrest and Triton leaned in.

"I know you know what I'm talking about, Sebastian."

Sebastian gulped, nearly panicking now. "Talking about, Sire?"

"Yes, Sebastian. About Ariel, being in love."

The pressure was too much for Sebastian and he broke down falling to his small crab knees and half sobbing and half raving told the King how he had tried to stop her, how she had refused to listen, how he had told her to stay away from humans. Quicker than anything in the sea, the Kings jovial mood had made way to a thunderous anger that made the skies turn black from the awaiting storm.

"Humans! What about humans!"

Sebastian froze and realized what he had spilled and that the King hadn't been talking about Ariel being in love with a human. Sebastian let out a nervous laugh.

"Humans, Your Majesty? Who said anything about humans? We were talking about Apollo, yes?"

Triton's glare intensified and Sebastian gulped as the King's large hand closed around him.

"Tell me everything, Sebastian! Now!" he ordered.

xXx

"How could you, Ariel?" the King's voice shook from suppressed anger.

"Daddy?" Ariel's voice shook also, but not from anger.

"Humans, Ariel! What have I told you! For countless of times! And now you do this!" Triton was yelling now, his low voice thundering through the grotto. Ariel winced with every sentence and Flounder had hid in a shadowy corner.

"How could you do this? To us? To Apollo!?"

With the reference to Apollo, Ariel flinched visibly. As Triton continued his lecture Ariel tried to reason with her father, to make him see why she had acted the way she had, but to no avail. Finally when Ariel desperately cried that she loved Erik, Triton lost his temper for good and in front of Ariel's terrified eyes destroyed her collection with a few well aimed bursts from the trident.

As Ariel sank crying to the floor, she didn't see the look of regret pass through her father's face as he left the grotto to calm his mind. When Sebastian and Flounder tried to comfort her, she told them to leave her alone, to go away. She couldn't believe that her collection that she had been collecting for years was gone. Ariel sobbed enough to make her shoulders shake. Nobody understood! Everybody were afraid of a few broken objects if they had anything to do with humans. She had never before felt this unconnected with her people, like this was not where she belonged at all.

And it wasn't. She knew it now. She belonged up there, above the sea to walk with two legs with Erik! So when the two strange eels told her about Ursula and her power to make her human, it didn't take much for them to make Ariel come with them. She had a slight moment of doubt when Sebastian tried to stop her, but her anger towards him for telling about her collection and everything to her father surged to the front of her mind and she flipped him off.

Worried, Flounder and Sebastian followed Ariel. Luckily Sebastian knew approximately where the Sea Witch's cave was since a few times they almost lost Ariel and the eels as they kept up a brisk pace. Gulping after half a day of following their friend, they watched hearts at their throats as Ariel entered the Witch's Lair.

xXx

Ariel tried to hide her trembling. The Sea Witch terrified her, even worse than the thought of her father angry. Ariel stared at the contract that awaited her signature her mind battling with itself. She was quite determined that she didn't belong down here and that if she stayed here she would never be accepted the way she was.

However she was having difficulties thinking about leaving her sisters behind, she would never see them again. She couldn't go to Attina whenever she had something in her mind troubling her, nor would she ever have to go to Arista whenever some of her things had disappeared having being distractedly gotten picked up by her sweet kleptomaniac sister. All of her sisters would be forever out of her reach if she signed the paper.

When she thought about her father, the thoughts in the forefront of her mind were angry and good riddance. She didn't want to live in the same sea as her father, he didn't let her be who she was and he was controlling and set in his ways and he would never change or understand her. He didn't care about her happiness. But underneath all those angry and sullen thoughts she knew she would become to miss her father also. He was their father, the one who kept them safe, who had told them fantastic bedtime stories when they had been younger, the one who made it all better when something had gone wrong. She loved her father still and would miss him because of it. Even if she didn't want to.

And then there was Apollo. Ariel's fingers strayed upon the necklace she had gotten from him. Oh, how she was going to miss him. Her heart was breaking at the thought that she was leaving him, she loved him, but she also loved Erik and she had to get away from the sea. She just couldn't stay here anymore. For a brief moment she played with the thought what it would be like if he were to become human as well, but then realized how foolish the thought was. Apollo loved the sea, he would never want to leave it, he wouldn't understand. And it might be easier for everyone if the two men she loved more than anything in the world did not live in the same worlds.

Ariel bit her lip desperate, few tears slipping from her eyes transforming into small white pearls and sinking down to the floor. She couldn't have both worlds or both men. So she chose the world she felt she belonged to and the man within it. Closing her eyes Ariel took the pen and signed her name. In a flash of light the contract disappeared and Ursula bent over the cauldron chanting magic words of power.

As the Witch told her to sing she picked up a tune for some reason that had been Apollo's favorite. Though it brought difficulties that she wouldn't be able to speak and it would awful that she couldn't sing anymore, in a way she found it strangely fitting that she left her voice behind to this world and Apollo. Apollo loved her singing and she loved to sing and now, away from the Sea, she no longer could sing. A just price for hurting her loved one, she thought. The Sea Witch was right, she could make Erik fall in love with her without her voice.

Then the spell was upon her, surrounding her. For a moment she felt an excruciating pain that drowned everything else and that seemed to last forever. Then it was over and suddenly her world turned against her. She couldn't breathe, everything seemed darker and her sight seemed blurry and she couldn't swim. She struggled to move but could get anywhere. Somewhere near her she thought she heard the Sea Witch laughing.

She was starting to get desperate, believing that her end would come here, drowning at the Sea Witch's lair, when she felt the welcome touch of Flounder and Sebastian who lifted her up and carried her to the surface. As she broke the water's surface she thought that going to the surface and getting a lungful of air had never before been as glorious as at that moment. Ariel coughed a little and with the help of Flounder and Sebastian swam clumsily to the shore, exhausted from everything.

Once they got to the beach Ariel collapsed against the rock and fell quickly to sleep.

xXx

Apollo swam in a calm pace as he made his rounds at the edge of the city. There had been a row with the small seahorse colony and the seapidgeon nest and he had been sent out to get the tiny creatures away from each other's throats. It was starting to get dark, it would be night soon and Apollo wondered if Ariel might want to go and see the moon tonight at the surface. As he headed towards the city he passed Ariel's grotto on the way.

Apollo frowned. The rock covering the grotto's entrance was wide open. That wasn't normal so Apollo changed directions and went to the entrance swimming through it. Maybe Ariel was there stashing some new find. But as Apollo came to the cave, his eyes widened at the sight that met his eyes.

Everything was in shambles. He didn't think that he could see one item that was intact. Shocked Apollo stared around the cave. What had happened here? He furrowed his brows when he noticed black markings in the walls and on some of the objects. Almost like something had burned it, like lightning. But no natural lightning could do that underwater. That left only King Triton, since he doubted anyone else would've had any business in Ariel's grotto.

Apollo was starting to get really worried. Judging by the looks of things Ariel and the King had had a huge argument. The King had destroyed Ariel's most prized possession. Ariel must be feeling very bad at the moment. Apollo thought about the moon gazing trip. Perhaps they wouldn't go to see that today. Unless it would cheer Ariel up.

Apollo left the grotto closing the entrance on his way out and sped up to the palace. He was having a bad feeling and hoped that finding Ariel would make it go away. Since Ariel and Triton had argued Apollo thought that Ariel might be in the palace, confined to her rooms perhaps. But when he went to the princesses' quarters he found out from Alana that Ariel had not been in there since this morning. The nagging feeling grew and Apollo decided to go and get out of his armor as his shift was ending and continue trying to find Ariel after that. But he never made it to his room when all the guards, in duty or not were called to search for King Triton's youngest daughter and Sebastian, who had not returned home.

The worry settled permanently into his stomach now and as the night went on and no sign of either of them was found Apollo started to fear that something had happened to Ariel. Because with Ariel that was very likely. He could easily imagine that she had gone off to settle her mind by exploring sunken ships or something like that and gotten in trouble. He could name many things that might have gotten their hands, fins or jaws on her out there.

He prayed upon the Sea that nothing had happened to her and that she was alright. With a heavy heart Apollo searched, all through the night but no sign of her still.

xXx

Ariel leaned on Erik as she walked on shaky legs towards the castle led by her helper. She wasn't quite sure yet of her feet, but with every step she took she felt steadier and less shaky. Thankfully Erik thought nothing of her stumbling as he thought she had been washed ashore from a shipwreck.

Ariel rolled her eyes in annoyance as she thought about their meeting at the shore. She thought it was perfectly clear that she was the same girl who had sung to him that day she had saved him from the storm. Even the dog could see that! (She was overjoyed that she finally knew what the creature was) She had nodded to him when he had asked if they had met before and nodded again when he asked if she was the girl from the shore. She really couldn't be more clear about the matter.

Honestly, one would think they didn't have Witches who took girls voices from them as payment for spells and magic here on land. And besides if they didn't, then didn't people lose their voices other ways too? She knew of a merman who had lost his voice once and no magic had been the cause of that.

When they reached the castle Erik gave her to the hands of the matron Carlotta. In a flash she had Ariel in a bubble bath, which gave Ariel nearly as great amazement than the fact that she could actually walk. Since the merfolk lived underwater they did not have baths and this seemed to be one of the countless miracles of the human world she had encountered since coming here and she had not even been here for a full day. Carlotta dressed her into a beautiful pink dress and shoes that gave her lots of trouble for a few moments until she got the hang of it with Carlotta's help.

She had been a little unsure about the clothing since to her it seemed very odd and a lot more constrictive than anything they wore under the sea, but when she saw the look on Erik's face as Carlotta led her to the dining room she decided that these clothes were very nice and pretty. Ariel couldn't take her eyes off of the Prince. She was standing here, only three steps separating them and she longed to run to his arms. But that might not go down very well, since Erik didn't know her yet. Not the way she knew him.

Ariel kept glancing at Erik as the old human, called Grimsby, led her to a chair and she sat down. The whole dinner went on distractedly as Ariel tried to make sense what object was used for what purpose. She managed quite well by following her dinner companions example though she did get weird looks when she brushed her hair with the dinglehopper and drew out a laugh from Erik when she blew the snarfblatt covering Grimsby in black dust. Ariel smiled shyly when Carlotta exclaimed that this was the first time in weeks that she seen Erik laugh.

xXx

Erik watched enchanted as the mystery girl looked around the dinner table curiously as if she hadn't seen most of the stuff there ever before in her life. Which was a ridiculous notion. Of course she had seen things like a fork or a pipe before, right? She had probably just tried to get a laugh out of them in which she had succeeded with her trick with the pipe. Well, at least with Erik she had succeeded.

She appeared to have a mischievous streak on her in general too, if what Erik had seen said anything. Her eyes were large and expressive and he could see laughter dance in them many times during the dinner. Though occasionally she seemed to withdraw and her eyes dimmed and she looked sadly out in to the ocean. He wondered what so sad was in there but of course he couldn't find out as the girl couldn't speak.

He had been overjoyed at the beach when he had seen her and believed that he had finally found the one who had saved him from the shipwreck. But then, to his great disappointment, he found out that the girl was mute. She couldn't have been the one he was looking for. But even though she was mute, she was the most extraordinary person he had ever met.

Erik couldn't help but give a bright smile when the girl accepted his suggestion of going on a tour to his kingdom the next day with a delighted look upon her face. It was starting to get quite late when they finished their dinner and Grimsby suggested they all retire for the day as the girl seemed to be nodding off at the table. Erik couldn't blame her. She had had a rough day if the way he had found her was any inclination.

Carlotta took the girl with her to show her the rooms they had prepared for her. Erik knew he wouldn't get any sleep yet so he took Max with him and went outside to play with him, giving himself a change to think about everything as well. Mainly the girl, though. At some point as he was petting Max he felt as if someone was watching him and he raised his gaze to look around. Looking up he spotted the mystery girl leaning against the balcony railing and watching him.

Erik smiled and waved a hand. The girl stood up quickly and then shyly lifted her own hand to wave back. Then she retreated to her room sparing him one last glance before disappearing from sight. Erik smiled gently and suddenly feeling peaceful and a bit sleepy called out to Max leading the dog indoors and heading for his own rooms.

xXx

The next day came and no one had still found Ariel or Sebastian. By now the whole kingdom was beside themselves with worry over their beloved princess. No matter how eccentric Ariel was, she was still greatly loved by the merpeople as were her family and the King who were suffering from worry and fear the longer the youngest princess stayed unfound. Everyone was now looking for her, even those who did not have look.

Apollo had not slept or eaten since he had heard that Ariel had gone missing. Not that it mattered much since he wouldn't be able fall asleep or swallow anything. Occasionally he had forced himself to snack on a kelp piece, of which he kept in a pouch on his belt in case he became hungry during work. Now even trying to eat those became a battle of its own.

Apollo was sitting on a rock near a great kelp forest trying to think of places Ariel might have gone off to. It was starting to get difficult since he had checked out pretty much all of them by now. And she had not been in any of them. There hadn't even been signs that she would've passed through them at some point. There really wasn't any place left, at least he couldn't think of one. Unless, of course, she had gone to the coast, near the humans, Apollo thought wryly.

Then he froze. She wouldn't have… Would she?

She knew going near the humans was dangerous, even at the open Sea where the strange sightings humans had were passed off as hallucinations and such. But to go to near the humans in the coast, right into the human's dwellings… If a mermaid or a merman was sighted there, it wouldn't be disregarded as flick of the imagination! They were on their own turf there, they would investigate and try to capture the mermaid or merman and who knew what they'd do to them if they were caught.

With a sinking feeling Apollo knew that going to the coast would be exactly what Ariel might do. Probably to prove to her father that they need not fear the humans. That there was good in them too. Apollo groaned as he left the rock a headed towards the coast. While he agreed with Ariel that not all humans were evil and that with those individuals they might be able to have decent relations with. But what about the bad ones? They didn't go away no matter how much you believed there was good in humans. They were still there waiting for you to get caught in a fish net or a fisherman's hook. To hurt them.

It took Apollo half a day's swimming to get to the coast where he slowed down and began moving as deep as he could and watching out for humans every moment. If he was being honest with himself he was starting to get a little angry at Ariel, among the fear and worry. Especially if he found her here. She had promised him that she would be careful and not get too close to humans. He had known when he had asked that, that she would be going to see them anyway at some point, but he had tried to press the point of 'not too close'.

She had promised him she wouldn't get too close and that she would be careful. Horrifying images of Ariel caught by humans flashed through his mind as he searched the shorelines, every now and then daring to go all the way to the shore in case she had gone to enjoy the sun. But nothing. No sign of her even in here. He didn't know how to feel. On the other hand he was relieved that she wasn't here, but then she was still missing. And that worried him even worse than before.

Apollo looked at the sky and the sun beginning to set. He would continue looking in here until the sun was down, he decided. Then he would return to the deep and try some other place he had not yet checked.


	4. Ariel Is Found

**A/N:** I'm being weird... this is way too quick...

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4. Ariel Is Found

Erik shook his head in amazement as he thought about the day they had spent touring his kingdom as he pushed the boat into the water hopping in after. They had left in the morning when the sun was already up and Erik had took them by a scenic route to the capital that laid not far from the castle. As she had the day before, again she acted as though she was seeing things for the first time. Erik had nearly gotten a heart attack when at one point he had her upside down, looking at the bottom of the carriage while they were moving.

At the city he had gotten to run after the mystery girl or be tugged into all sorts of market amusements, like a puppet show or dancing. He had really enjoyed the dancing. The girl hadn't seemed to know the steps and had been slightly unsure with her feet, but hadn't let that bother her one bit. She had just moved through the music, occasionally picking something up from Erik. It had been so fun that they had stayed dancing for at least five or six songs.

The way she had pointed at normal things like she had never seen them before had given Erik a new point of view about them and soon they had been pointing things together. They had also gotten her a hat that had drawn her attention, some fresh bread from the bakery and flowers. The girl had been sniffing them in bliss and Erik just couldn't not to buy them for her.

He had also found out that the girl wasn't as fragile as he had thought. She had a reckless and daring streak on her a mile wide which had come apparent when he had given the reins of the carriage to her and she had taken them across the ravine. He had nearly snatched the reins back but then thought otherwise. She obviously could handle herself, how many times did you meet a girl who could do something like that, and just enjoyed it. So Erik had leaned back and enjoyed the ride.

Before the girl had had time to take them home, Erik had directed her to drive into a small lagoon where he had decided to end their day trip. Lagoon was breathtaking at sunset and Erik wanted the girl to see it. Erik took the oars and guided the boat further away from the shore. The air was sweet and warm and the sounds of the lagoon played their gentle song around them. The girl was looking around as if enchanted. The calmness of the evening was not disturbed by anything, that is, until some crazy bird started croaking like it was dying.

"Poor bird, he sounds like he's dying or something", Erik commented and managed to get a smile from the girl. The bird thankfully fell silent but Erik couldn't shake the feeling that he was hearing something just out of range. He tried turning his head in different directions to hear better, but still couldn't make what it was he was hearing. When he asked the girl if she was hearing anything, he got a shake of the head as an answer.

Erik eventually shrugged it off and focused on the girl again. Which brought something to his mind. He needed a name for the girl. He couldn't go around and just call her 'girl'. He suggested of trying to guess the name and was met with enthusiasm. He tried a few names that mostly got negative responses and he was trying to think what name to suggest next when the voice he had tried to hear was back again, only this time he could almost hear it. It was saying…

"Ariel?" Erik said half loud and didn't realize he had spoken out loud until he saw the girl nodding vigorously. "Ariel? That's your name?"

The girl, Ariel nodded again and Erik smiled at her. "You know that's kind of beautiful."

Ariel ducked her head shyly and nodded her thanks. In her enthusiasm she had taken Erik's hand on her own and now he took a better hold of her hands. The boat glided through the leaf veil of the weeping willow and then they were in the soft twilight under the branches. Ariel looked breathtaking to Erik's eyes and slowly they leaned towards one another. Just when their lips were about to touch, the boat gave a huge wobble and then it tipped over throwing them under water.

As Erik splashed around trying to get himself upright and trying to see something through the bubbles in the water, he thought he saw an enormous fin or tail disappear behind the bend on the shore. Erik shook his head and concentrated getting up from the water. There was no way anything that big lived in the lagoon. He must have been seeing things.

Erik grabbed Ariel's hand and helped her up. Luckily the water wasn't deep, so he managed to get the boat the right way easily and the climbed back on board again.

"That was probably our cue to get back home", Erik said and headed towards the shore where they had left the carriage. "We better get out of these clothes before we get a cold or something."

Ariel nodded and sighed frustrated. It had been so close!

xXx

Apollo sighed resignedly as he made his last passing of the shoreline at this part of the sea. Still he had not seen any sign of Ariel or Sebastian. The sun was almost down and Apollo prepared to leave back to deeper waters. There really weren't that many places for Ariel to gone off to on her own after he had checked these shores out. And if she wasn't in any of those places, that left only limited options of what had happened to her.

She might have gotten hurt swimming to where ever she was going and was now lying somewhere waiting for rescue that might or might not come. Or she might have encountered a shark (or some other predator who ate merfolk) that she had not been able to evade this time. This option made Apollo's blood freeze at the mere thought of it. And then there was the possibility that she might have been kidnapped. Though not likely, it was possible since Triton had enemies. The Octopuns, the Sharkanians and the Sea Witch to mention a few.

Apollo thought the possibility of kidnapping better than the shark scenario since at least the she would be alive and they could rescue her. But if something had gotten her into their jaws, they were many times too late.

Apollo swam past a castle and a city, warily going a little closer every now and then to see if he could find any sign of Ariel. Apollo wrinkled his nose at the smell of the harbor. He couldn't for the life of him understand why did the humans dump their litter into the ocean. It made the water dirty and, at least under water, made the whole place smell like no other. Apollo tried to breathe lightly as he did a quick tour on the docks, careful of staying out of sight. He still didn't see anything that would indicate Ariel's presence, so he thankfully left the harbor and breathed deeply once got away from the vicinity of the docks.

Following the shore he swam away from the city and in his hurry to get away from the smell of the place didn't notice that he was going back to where the castle was. When he noticed it he paused and started planning how far would he have to circle around the city if he wanted to get past it without smelling it. He was just about to head off when he heard it.

It was Sebastian singing. He was sure of it. He'd know his voice anywhere. And if he was here, it was very likely that Ariel was here as well. Carefully Apollo followed the sound of Sebastian's voice into a small lagoon, fearing what he'd find. He looked around and noticed Sebastian swimming from the bottom to the surface. Then he noticed the boat. Cursing Apollo ducked lower to avoid detection and tried to see the crab from under the water. Apollo frowned. It was almost as if he was singing to someone _in_ the boat.

Apollo searched a hidden spot and dared a peek at the surface. And blinked. His mind couldn't process of what he was seeing. He had come here fearing that Sebastian and Ariel would be in trouble, captured by humans. Instead he saw Sebastian singing to Ariel who was sitting in a boat with a _human_. And she was _sitting in a boat_. Wearing human clothes, holding hands with a human man, smiling to the said human man. Apollo shook and suddenly he felt something crack under his hand. A branch he had been holding on to was crushed, he had been squeezing it so hard.

Apollo followed the boat under the huge tree and watched the scene unfolding before him. Sebastian and a band of other creatures from the lagoon were singing, urging Ariel and the human man to… kiss? And it seemed to be working as the two of them were slowly leaning closer and closer to each other. Apollo gritted his teeth. They had been looking for the two for nearly two days and they were here amongst humans, like they had no worries in the world! His beloved, _his _Ariel was sitting in a boat with another man, who was a human and was inches away from kissing him!

Apollo had had enough. He sped off like a lightning swimming under the boat, which he may have tipped over on purpose, and grabbing Sebastian headed away from the lagoon stopping just outside it. He lifted the crab in front of his furious face causing Sebastian to pale and gulp audibly.

Apollo almost growled. "_What_ was that!?"

"What?" Sebastian squeaked. "Oh that? Nothing, nothing at all. Really."

Now Apollo was shouting. "Oh! So Ariel in a boat with a HUMAN is nothing! She was kissing him! And you were urging them to! What in the bloody Seas is going on!? And by the Sea if I don't get any answers I'll strike you from here to Sharkania!"

"Alright, alright!" Sebastian cried his knees shaking (or they would have if he hadn't been in Apollo's hand). "She traded her voice for legs so that she could be with Erik!"

"She traded her voice…" Apollo trailed away as he realized what Sebastian had said. "She has _legs_! How… Why… Wait. To be with _Erik_?!"

Sebastian nodded as Apollo stared at him.

"To… to be… with that human?" Apollo's voice was down to almost a whisper.

Sebastian nodded again.

"But… why?" Apollo looked at Sebastian with such profound confusion that Sebastian nearly felt his heart breaking. He knew how much Apollo loved Ariel. Most of the people in Atlantica did. And now he would have to break the merman's heart.

"Because she loves him", Sebastian said, sorrow shining through his voice.

"But… how?" Apollo asked, desperate.

And so Sebastian told Apollo what had happened, starting from the night when Ariel had snuck upon a human ship and seen Erik for the first time and saving him from the storm. Apollo listened even though he did not want to, his heart breaking with every word he heard. He had thought that Ariel loved him, like he loved her. That they were happy together. And now he heard that one look upon that human and Ariel had fallen in love with him. She hadn't even talked to the guy and she had fallen for him worse than she had for Apollo. His mind felt incapable of processing the thought.

Anger started to work its way to Apollo's thoughts. Anger towards the human. For existing. For being someone Ariel had only needed to glance and Apollo had been disregarded. Anger towards Ariel. For disappearing like this for nearly two days worrying the entire kingdom. For being stupid and reckless enough to make a deal with the Sea Witch. For fooling him that she loved him, when in reality she had been dreaming about another man. For choosing the other man in the first place.

Apollo was shaking from suppressed anger by now and with extreme care laid Sebastian to a rock next to them. Apollo grinded his teeth.

"I need to go", he said trying not to scream his pain out loud for the whole world to hear. Not yet anyways. "I'm going to go and break something."

Sebastian nodded in understanding.

Apollo was already turning to go when he paused. "I'll come back later."

"I know", Sebastian said quietly as he watched Apollo swim to the open sea.

xXx

At the same time when Erik was being enchanted, on the far side of the castle where the sea nearly reached the castle walls a crab was pulling his charge towards the water muttering about as he went. Sebastian was tugging Ariel's evening robe and Ariel followed him with confusion. It really was impossible sometimes now that she couldn't talk. Even now she had a dozen questions of what this all was about, but she couldn't ask but perhaps one of them since she was limited to signaling and motioning unless she wanted to start writing everything down.

She really wanted to know what was going on. Sebastian had been acting a bit strange ever since the boat had tipped over at the lagoon. He had been quiet and moody and sighing sullenly every few moments. Then he had disappeared for awhile before coming back and demanding she follow him. When they had been heading to the shore, Ariel had been slightly concerned that Sebastian had gotten her dad here somehow, but then realized it was impossible. There was no way Sebastian could've swam to Atlantica and returned with the Sea King in half an hour.

As they neared the water Ariel saw that she had been right. Sebastian had not brought her father here. But he had brought Apollo. Ariel paled slightly at the sight of him lying on the sand the lower part of his body in the water drawing circles in the sand as he waited. Ariel's stomach turned itself into knots and the conflict with all the troubling emotion, guilt among them, came back in one quick moment nearly crushing her.

Apollo wiped off yet another of his doodlings on the sand, feeling like it took forever for Sebastian to get Ariel. It had taken him a few hours to get worst of his anger out of his system. He had gone swimming and hitting rocks and coral to bits with his tail, raging and crying. He had even bumped into a couple of sharks and would've welcomed the opportunity to fight with them, but the bloody creatures had right then decided to get a sixth sense on when to not piss off a merman. He was still angry and the pain had not gone anywhere, but he hoped that with the worst of it taken out on rocks he was a bit calmer now than he would have been right after he had learned what Sebastian had told him.

"Apollo", Sebastian woke him from his thoughts. "Here she is."

Then, with a glance between Apollo and Ariel, he scurried off by the shore giving them some privacy. Apollo looked at Ariel and Ariel stood wringing her hands uneasily. Then, slowly she came closer and sat down in front of Apollo. Apollo couldn't get his eyes off of Ariel's legs. He had heard Sebastian when he had told him that she had legs but it wasn't the same as seeing it himself. Apollo reached out carefully, as if the legs could bite him, and touched the legs, trying to see if they were real. Maybe he was just seeing a dream and Ariel did have a tail after all, if only he'd touch the legs. But as he stroke the skin on her legs, no tail magically popped out.

Apollo drew his hand back and looked at Ariel desperately. "Why? Why would you do this?"

Ariel cast her gaze down upon her feet.

"I mean, what ever happened between your father and you, can't it be fixed? You really don't have to leave the whole Sea because you two had a fight, do you?!"

Ariel shook her head forcefully at the part about fixing things with her father. She still hadn't forgiven him.

"What about me?" Apollo's voice got caught in his throat for a moment. "I… I thought you loved me."

Ariel's eyes widened and with a reassuring countenance she tried to lay her hand on top of his heart after holding it on top of her own, their own sign for loving each other. But before Ariel could finish the sign, Apollo stopped her hand in midway.

"Don't", Apollo's voice was low and dangerous making Ariel draw away from him slightly. "I saw you in the lagoon. With… _him_. I saw you, nearly kissing."

Apollo squeezed his hands into fists. "So don't say that you love me. If one look on that man makes you forget me in a second and fall for him in another second, you must have not loved me very much."

A flash of defiance flickered through Ariel's eyes and she grabbed Apollo's hand to stop it from stopping her and repeated their sign for love, this time completing the motion.

"Well if you loved me then why, by the Deeps, did you have to run off to land into the arms of that human?!" Apollo's voice rose higher so that he was almost yelling. Ariel glanced nervously behind her, worried that someone might hear him. Then she tried to sign again, hoping Apollo would understand.

First she indicated herself, then pointed at the Sea. And then she shook her head sadly. Apollo frowned.

"You don't like the Sea?" he asked incredulously and Ariel shook her head.

"You like the Sea", Apollo said and Ariel nodded and then repeated the gesture again. Apollo thought about the gesture and Ariel for a moment before he realized what she was trying to say. "You like the Sea, but you don't feel like you belong in there?"

Ariel nodded, smiling that he had understood her. Then she again pointed at herself and now she took some sand into her cupped hands and showed it to Apollo before nodding.

"But you feel you belong to land?"

Ariel nodded.

Apollo looked at her flatly. "Great, I'm being disregarded because of a handful of dirt."

His tone was sharp and sarcastic and Ariel dropped her hands. She held her hands out then and her whole body seemed to scream for him to understand.

"I do not want to understand!"Apollo snarled. "I love you. And I thought you loved me. And your family loves you, and your friends. The whole kingdom is worried about you and has been looking for you for two days! And you're here! For all accounts safe and sound, if we ignore the fact that you have traded your tail for frigging legs! With the Sea Witch! You know better than to make deals with her. They never end well, Ariel!"

Ariel hung her head, her conscience nagging her somewhat.

Apollo grabbed her arms and tugged her a bit closer. "Is it really that bad in the Sea, Ariel? Is so bad there, with me? You are going somewhere where I can't follow, Ariel. Somewhere where I can't protect you or take care of you, have crazy adventures or exploring unknown places. I can't follow you in to the land no matter how much I'd want to. I wouldn't survive a day there. My heart belongs to the Sea. "

Ariel buried her head in her hands and burst into tears. Trying to wipe them off, the pearls dropping to the sand, she repeated the 'I love you' sign once again. Then she did it again, but this time instead of laying her hand on Apollo's chest, she pointed at the castle.

"You… love him?" Apollo whispered incredulously.

Ariel nodded and then again signaled herself and then cupping sand on her hands.

Apollo laughed bitterly. "So I really am being disregarded by this!" he threw a handful of sand on Ariel's lap. Ariel tried to reach out to him, but Apollo withdrew.

"No, Ariel. Don't! Just don't."

Apollo turned around and with a splash and flick of a tail he was gone, leaving Ariel sitting on the shore to count the pearls in the sand.

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**A/N: **As always, I love reviews :)


	5. The Wedding

**A/N:** Well, they are all done, so no reason for me to not put this chapter up now that I've checked once more.

I'll have to say though, it's going to be a bit (maybe more than a bit) different from the way it happened in the movies…

Enjoy!

And thank you for the reviews! They are wonderful and I'm glad that I've managed to write Ariel right and Apollo as I've seen him :P

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5. The Wedding

The sun was high up in the sky when Scuttle came and woke Ariel and Sebastian. Ariel was groggy and half asleep still when Scuttle congratulated her, so exited he nearly shed all his feathers on her bed. Ariel had had an awful night. After Apollo had left and after she had finally managed to get back to her rooms, she had tossed and turned in her bed what felt like hours until she finally had fallen asleep. She had been so conflicted that she had seen strange dreams of the sea and land and Apollo and Erik through the whole night, though nothing had been so bad as to wake her up.

She had made up her mind though, despite her conflicting feelings. She would live on land if only she could get the kiss from Erik today. They had almost kissed yesterday and she didn't think Erik would have tried to kiss her if he didn't feel something towards her. It was strange. She felt like the happiest mermaid in the whole world when she thought about Erik while at the same time her heart was breaking into a thousand pieces when she knew she was leaving Apollo if she followed this path to its end.

As Ariel began to wake up Scuttle words registered in her brain. Wedding? Tonight? With Erik? If she could've she would've squealed and sang with happiness. But since she couldn't she settled for lifting Sebastian from the pillow and giving him a kiss. Then, after checking herself from the mirror, she rushed out of her rooms only in her night gown to find Erik.

However once she reached the balcony over the hallway she stopped dead at the sight that met her eyes. There was Erik and Grimsby who were talking and on Erik's arm there was another woman. Beautiful and dark haired was all Ariel could see. She felt her heart miss a beat and she hid behind a column staring at the couple with disbelief.

From what she could gather from Grimsby's words, the woman, Vanessa, claimed to be the one who had sung to Erik at the beach that day. Ariel shook her head as she listened to the conversation. It was not true. She was the one! She had been singing to Erik! Why couldn't he see that?! Ariel bit her lip and listened as they made arrangements for the wedding to be held tonight, the wedding ship leaving at sunset. Ariel couldn't take anymore and crying ran back to her room Sebastian following her trying to make sense of what he had just witnessed.

The rest of Ariel's day was spent trying to avoid Vanessa as much as possible (she really didn't want to see her anywhere) and trying to find Erik alone so that she could talk to him. Well, as much as she could talk to anyone. But when ever Ariel did find Erik, he was never alone and worst case scenario, he was with Vanessa. Rest of the time, Ariel didn't know where he disappeared into, but she couldn't find him no matter where she looked. She had also by lunchtime decided to avoid the wedding organizers as well, they had asked her if she'd like to help in the organizing like many others, but Ariel had politely declined. The thought of helping them to arrange the marriage that would take Erik out of her reach forever, was awful. She cringed at the mere thought of it.

When the evening came she felt exhausted by everything. She just wanted it all to be over. There was nothing for her left anyways in either of the worlds now that the prince loved another and she would turn back to mermaid and belonged to the Sea Witch after sunset. When the pain and jealousy raged inside she wondered if this was what Apollo had been feeling since yesterday and felt guilty for making him go through it. But Ariel didn't know what else she could've done. She wouldn't live in the Sea, especially now that she knew what living on land could be. She loved it, maybe even more than the Sea.

Ariel came out from behind the column once the ship had left the docks and stared forlornly after it, the emotions threatening to get the better of her again. She leaned back against the column and slid slowly down to the ground. She buried her head to her arms and finally let the tears she had been holding in all day come out. She cried as the ship got smaller and smaller against the setting sun. Sebastian and Flounder tried to offer her some comfort, but nothing they said made her feel any better.

Scuttle's calling made her look up to the large bird who crashed on to the pier panting. It took them few moments to decipher what Scuttle was trying to say. But once they understood him and Ariel realized that the Sea Witch must have placed a spell over Erik, a spark of hope awakened in her heart. She looked around and noticed barrels tied securely in a pile. She pointed the barrels to Sebastian who cut the rope and Ariel jumped into the Sea and grabbing a barrel for her to stay on the surface better. She still wasn't very good at swimming with legs.

Sebastian had just told Flounder to help and pull the barrel towards the ship when a head rose from the water. Ariel froze and looked at Apollo, who in turn was scrutinizing her. He was looking unhappy and tired and Ariel once again felt a twinge of guilt. To distract herself from her feelings she spoke up.

"Apollo?" Of course no sound could be heard.

Apollo opened his mouth to answer a few times, appearing to be unsure what to say, or perhaps how to say it.

"This", he eventually said looking at the whole of her, "makes you happy?"

The question seemed to be painful for him as he bit it out. Ariel looked down at herself and realized he meant her human form and probably Erik as well. She looked at him apologetically and nodded her head sadly. Apollo gritted his teeth and sighed.

"Fine", he said and grabbed the rope from the barrel. "Hang on."

Ariel's eyes widened and she motioned her confusion. Apollo lifted his brow.

"It makes you happy."

Then he dived under the water and the rope under the barrel tightened. Ariel grabbed the barrel before it got away from her. Sebastian jumped on it as well and Flounder followed them as fast as he could. If the barrel had been pulled by Flounder, Ariel suspected she wouldn't have made it in time. But with Apollo they were at the ship in no time. And by the sounds of things, Scuttle was keeping himself busy with his friends up on the deck. Apollo stopped next to the hull of the ship and resurfaced. Ariel looked at him thankfully and pressed her hand to his chest.

Apollo lifted his brow and assumed a slightly sardonic look. "You know, while I'm happy that you still love me, I think, it still doesn't help much to know that when you're picking the other guy anyways."

Ariel shrugged apologetic. She felt like she had been doing that a lot lately. Apollo reached out and cupped her cheek with his hand and leaned closer giving her a gentle kiss, bittersweet and full of longing. A tear escaped Ariel's eye and Apollo caught it in his hand.

"I'll always love you, Ariel."

Ariel nodded shedding a few more tears that Apollo caught also before helping her up the ship's hull. Ariel climbed up stumbling little as she lost her footing a couple of times. Before climbing over the board to the ship Ariel cast one last look down, smiling. Apollo was not smiling, but did try to look encouraging, Ariel thought, although a bit sad as well. Ariel drew a breath and climbed to the deck and prepared to face the Sea Witch.

xXx

Apollo managed to hold himself together until Ariel had disappeared to the deck. Then he curled his hands into fists, pressed his forehead to the hull and directed a few blows on to the wooden surface. He was so frustrated! No matter that he had told Ariel that as long as she was happy, he'd be okay. Well, he had let her think that. But he really wasn't! He wanted nothing more than to go and grab her back from up there and take her home.

But then she would hate him. He just knew it. It was who Ariel was. Like the Sea herself, she was wild and strong and she was a free soul. If he took away her free will, she would never forgive him. And that was something he wouldn't be able to take. Though, he wasn't sure if he could take the thought of Ariel with that human man either…

Apollo glanced up as he heard the song Ariel had used to hum to him and the muffled sounds of their voices as Ariel and Erik spoke to each other. Apollo sighed deeply and slowly sank into the sea. It looked like Ariel and her friends had all under control. The Sea Witch would no doubt be slinking back to her cave in moments and the ship sailing to the sunset with the happy couple. Oh the joy, Apollo thought rolling his eyes.

A splash on the surface drew his attention and his eyes widened as he saw the Sea Witch diving to the sea.

"Ariel!"

At the moment the name left his lips Apollo cursed himself. The Sea Witch heard him and upon noticing him cursed and disappeared in a cloud of ink taking Ariel with her. Apollo tried to reach them in time, but missed them with a flick of a tail swimming straight into the ink cloud. Apollo cursed and spat the ink out of his mouth closing his eyes as he headed to the surface. It was the only direction he knew at the moment for sure.

Apollo surfaced, breathing in deeply and coughing up ink. He wiped his eyes to get rid of the ink that had gotten stuck on his face. When he finally managed to take a look around himself he was splashed with water as a form yelling Ariel's name jumped to the ocean. Apollo watched the Prince dive and come back to breathe repeating the process again and again. Something clicked in his head and the next time the human surfaced Apollo grabbed him and slammed him against the hull of the ship. Hard.

"This is all your fault!" Apollo snarled at Erik.

"Easy there", Erik said. "I have no quarrel with you."

Apollo bared his teeth. Oh, how he was angry. He was furious! He couldn't remember a time he'd have been this angry. His grip on the human tightened.

"No quarrel?" Apollo bit out. "If you didn't exist, Ariel wouldn't have gone to the Sea Witch! She wouldn't have traded her voice for legs! She wouldn't be imprisoned at the Sea Witch's lair! And you say I have no quarrel with you?!"

Erik swallowed, feeling he was on uneven ground here. This… merman, because it couldn't be anything else, was strong and angry and Erik wasn't sure what he could do or say to calm him down. As he looked at the merman's face he couldn't but wonder how Ariel' was so different from this creature. Ariel was beautiful and unearthly (literally) being, so kind and gentle but this man felt so strange. Alien more like, Erik thought.

He had been quite surprised, floored even, when Ariel had changed into a mythical being (at least they thought she had been one) but Erik didn't care. He loved Ariel, fins or no fins and he would do anything to get her back. Even if it meant dicing into a world foreign to him, full of who knew what kind of other mythical creatures. He wasn't going to let this merman stop him.

"Look", Erik started. "I can't help that I was born and I'm sorry if you feel that it would be better that I hadn't been. But now really isn't the time for this, okay. I am going to go and save Ariel and you are going to have to get out of my way!"Erik stared at the merman with a determined countenance his determination shining through his eyes brightly.

Apollo arched an eyebrow unimpressed. "You are going to save Ariel?"

Erik frowned. The merman sounded more amused than serious. Who was this guy? Was he a friend of Ariel's? He certainly seemed worried about her, like a brother perhaps. That would explain the chokehold the merman was holding him in.

"And how exactly are you going to do that? You don't even know where the Witch's lair is not to mention you might have some difficulties staying alive underwater", Apollo gave him an annoyed look and tossed him to the side. "Don't make me laugh. You'd be shark food in seconds."

The merman turned towards a… crab. Erik blinked. What the hell?

"Sebastian! I'm going after Ariel. Go tell the Sea King that I'm on my way!"

Erik's eyes widened. He was talking to the crab!? And the crab was answering? This was starting to get crazy. But no matter, he was still going to save Ariel. Even if it took his life. He loved her and he wouldn't let anything stand between them anymore. He saw the merman dive and dashed to grab a hold on his weapons belt. The merman noticed him right away and turned to stare at him and grabbed him again from his shirt.

"What do you think you are doing!?"

Erik stared at him back. He couldn't exactly answer underwater so he raised his brow. The merman sighed and rolled his eyes before dragging him back to the surface.

Once there Erik answered him. "I'm going with you to save Ariel."

Apollo stared at him for a moment. "Riiight."

"I don't care what you do, I'm coming with you one way or the other", Erik stated.

"No", Apollo said.

"Even if I have to hang on to you the whole way down."

Apollo narrowed his eyes. He could let the guy do that and then he would drown and be gone from this world and Apollo would feel very happy. Even the thought of him being gone got him into a good mood. But Ariel wouldn't like that. She would be most unhappy. Apollo battled with himself for a moment more until he finally sighed and dug out one of Ariel's tears he had caught when they had been saying goodbye. He flung it to the human who caught it fumbling.

"Eat up", Apollo grunted.

Erik stared at the pearl curiously. "Why? What does it do?"

"Allow you to survive underwater", Apollo answered and muttered "Unfortunately" as he sank beneath the surface. Erik caught the last word and stared at the pearl suspiciously. Flounder swam next to him.

"It's safe", the fish said and Erik jumped. "Apollo's just in a bad mood."

So the merman's name was Apollo. And saying he was in a bad mood was the understatement of the year in Erik's opinion. Still a little hesitantly Erik took the pearl and ate it. He waited a moment but didn't feel anything different so carefully he dived under the water and swam deeper. He held his breath out of habit and struggled when he ran out of air. When he no longer could help but drawing a breath, Erik felt like instead of getting water into his lungs, he got air. As if somewhere along the way from his mouth and his nose the water changed into air.

Erik wrote it off as the magic it was, though he had never heard anywhere that pearls could be used in this way, and focused on looking for the merman named Apollo. The man really didn't like him, Erik wouldn't be surprised if he ignored Erik and left him behind. Erik blinked a couple of times to clear his vision surprised at how well he saw. It had to be one of the pearl's effects. Erik noticed the golden and blue fish that had startled him so and followed him until they reached the merman. Erik was feeling slightly out of breath already, but he had no intention to let the other man see that.

"What is it, Apollo?" the fish asked as the merman stared at the big blue.

"Just thinking about the best route, Flounder", the man answered. "There's a current that could shorten our trip a little, but with him we can't take it."

Flounder nodded and Erik stared at the two frowning. Currents? He really didn't like it when he was out of his depth. And that was what he was here. After a minute or so, Apollo appeared to have made a decision and tapped his shoulders glancing at the Prince with an unreadable look.

"Garb a hold on to my shoulders. We'll get nowhere if you swim on your own pace", he said.

Erik gritted his teeth at the tone of voice but complied and let out a surprised shout as Apollo put his strong tail into use and they shot away in a speed that bought galloping horses to Erik's mind. It certainly felt like it as he hung on Apollo and the water rushed past his ears. Erik noticed that Flounder had gotten a lift as well, when he saw the fish safely tucked away in the crook of Apollo's arm. They were moving so quickly and Erik had to focus on his grip on the merman's shoulders, that the Prince really didn't have many opportunities to observe his surroundings as they hurried towards the Witch's lair.

The trip didn't feel too long, Erik thought, as they finally slowed down in a dark and eerie looking part of the sea bottom. Erik couldn't help but shiver as he gazed at the twisted rocks and crooked shapes. As Apollo led them to the shelter of a group of rocks Erik finally let go of his shoulders to swim on his own flexing his fingers once they stopped. They were stiff after he had been holding so tight on the merman's shoulders.

Apollo scanned their surroundings, wary and alert. Erik could see that the merman was obviously a warrior amongst his own people. Well, he wasn't useless himself either, Erik thought and focused on their surroundings as well even though they were unfamiliar to him. He couldn't see anything that would threaten their existence, but as this really wasn't his world and he couldn't know if he missed something, he waited for Apollo who was currently staring at a strange looking formation. Erik wasn't sure what to think of it, except that it seriously crept him out. It looked like a skeleton of a deformed fish, maybe, whose mouth was opened, whether for a scream that no one could hear or to eat and swallow any unlucky sea creatures passing by Erik could not say. It glowed in eerie light that cast deep shadows around it and the trio took full advantage of them.

It was a strange entourage that snuck into the sights of the polyps in the Witch's Garden, a merman, a slightly trembling golden blue fish and strangest of all – a human. Apollo pushed Erik closer to the roof himself and Flounder following behind him away from the reaching polyps. Flounder was scared of them as before, while Erik shuddered in disgust. Apollo ignored them once they were out of their reach. Right before the corridor opened up into the main chamber, Apollo stopped them once more to look at the scene in the room.

The Sea Witch's cauldron was standing in the middle of the chamber, green light coming off from it. It was the only light source in the room. The eyes of all three of them found Ariel right away, near Ursula's throne where she was tied up and glared at the eels guarding her. Ursula, the Sea Witch, however was nowhere in sight.

"Wh-why would th-th-the Sea Witch le-leave Ariel here?" Flounder stuttered in an almost inaudible voice.

"She isn't stupid", Apollo said frowning as he took in the situation. "King Triton has defeated her time after time. She is not going to take her trump card anywhere where she might be in danger of losing her."

Erik made to move towards Ariel, but didn't get anywhere before Apollo had grabbed him by his shirt and pressed him against the wall glaring murderously at him.

"What do you think you are doing?!" Apollo hissed at him. "Those two are going to kill you in seconds! Do you even have a weapon?!"

Annoyed at the grumpy merman, Erik drew his dagger with a pointed look thrown at Apollo. Once again, the merman didn't look anywhere near convinced. Apollo merely stared at him with an arched brow and sarcastic look on his face.

"Lovely", the merman snarked. "You can go and try to cut Ariel loose." Apollo drew his own dagger, bigger and longer with a curved blade as his sword would be too big to use in the chamber full of nasty things. Erik had to admit that it looked much more capable of injuring those large eels. Apollo turned to Flounder. "Flounder, you stay here and if anyone comes through here yell like there are ten sharks after you."

The little fish nodded, looking determined if shaky and Apollo grinned at him ruffling his head fins. Erik was startled at how nice looking guy the merman changed into when he smiled. He almost looked like someone Erik would have enjoyed sailing with. It was clearly not to be, Erik thought as Apollo glared at him and prepared to attack the eels.

The second the merman was off, Erik swam as fast as he could to Ariel who looked at her with wide unbelieving eyes. "Erik? Apollo?" she exclaimed as Erik cut her restraints swiftly with his knife.

Erik grinned. "You really didn't think I'd just let you vanish again?"

Ariel laughed relieved and once her hands were free pulled Erik for a kiss. The sight of the two of them kissing distracted Apollo momentarily and one of the eels, Apollo couldn't say which as he never could tell them apart, managed to strike him with its tail sending an electric shock through him. Apollo cursed and returned his focus on his adversaries with newfound enthusiasm, pouring all of his feelings about the happenings of the last few days into his fighting. Suffice to say, the eels didn't stand much of a chance. By the time Erik had managed to get Ariel free, the other one of the eels was stuffed into a huge jar, though not spacious enough for him, while the other had been more unfortunate and had been killed when he had flown straight to the Witch's cauldron.

Apollo glared at the remaining ell in the jar before schooling his face into a less angry look, though he knew he couldn't cover his anger completely. He turned to Ariel and the human Prince, the sight of Ariel looking at the man smiling and adoringly, as she had not too long ago looked at him, piercing his heart sharply and painfully.

"We need to go", Apollo ground out and swam towards the main entrance.

The mermaid and the human man moved to follow him when Ariel suddenly stopped. "Wait! The contract!"

She dashed to the Witch's throne and searched inside it for the secret compartment she had seen Ursula hiding the contract in. She dug around until she found the compartment, thanking the Deeps that she had realized to keep her attention in Ursula when the contract was hidden. Otherwise she might have never found it. Ariel snatched the glowing contract made of seaweeds and gold and swam to the others, hugging Flounder in her joy when she noticed him.

When they got out, they noticed the rumbling and the flashes of light in the distance. They also noticed that it seemed to be coming closer, albeit slowly. Apollo laid his hand on Ariel's shoulder and directed her away from the Witch's Lair_ and_ the lights.

"Come, we need to get farther away from here. It seems the fight it coming closer."

"The fight?" Erik asked frowning and glanced at the lights again.

"Yes, the King and the Sea Witch are fighting and we do not want to be near them when they reach here", Apollo said.

"How do you know they are coming this way?" Erik asked.

"The lights are approaching and if the Sea Witch is losing she would want to return to her own terrain. Especially if she has already found out that Ariel is no longer where she left her."

"She probably has", Ariel muttered worriedly as she took Erik's hand and followed Apollo. They didn't swim too far as Ariel wanted to be able to see what happened to her father, the fight was even closer than before and the rumbling and blasts had grown stronger. Once she let her desire known Erik looked at her surprised and blinking.

"King Triton is your father?"

Ariel nodded shrugging her shoulders. "Yes. I'm his youngest daughter."

Erik had a slightly amazed look and a half-smile on his face. It appeared that he hadn't even thought of the possibility that Ariel might have been royalty. Of course, as a human he had very little knowledge of the world under the sea. Apollo rolled his eyes and crossed his arms trying to ignore the two while following the happenings around them. His eyes brightened shortly when he saw a seapidgeon flittering around and called the small fish to him. Once the quick birdlike fish waited upon his hand, Apollo asked it to deliver a message to the Sea King. Thanks to the seapidgeon's fastness and eidetic memory characteristic to its species, the Sea King would know in no time that his daughter was safe.

"How did you get here?" Ariel's voice drew Apollo's attention as it usually did and he heard her question to the human Prince.

The Prince in question gestured towards Apollo. "Apollo gave me this pearl and told me to eat it. After that I could breathe underwater."

Ariel looked at Apollo smiling hesitantly. "Really?"

Apollo gave a sour look to the pair. "I would have much rather let him drown", he grumbled and thought to himself that the pearl had a bit over ten hours, if he counted right, left before the effects would wear off. Apollo doubted that he was lucky enough that the Prince would still be underwater then. Especially since Ariel knew about the pearl now. And about Ariel, she seemed to be glaring at him.

"Apollo!" she admonished. "Just because he's human doesn't mean you should be so mean to him."

With a sharp movement Apollo turned his head and returned Ariel's glare with one of his own. "My being _mean_ to him has nothing to do with his being a human! Can't a guy be jealous?!" he snapped at her. "Though granted that him having two legs doesn't help at all!"

Ariel stared at Apollo with a frown a myriad of emotions swirling in her eyes, battling with each other. Ariel turned, still slightly frowning back to Erik who looked at Ariel and Apollo with wide eyes.

"Jealous? You- you were together before?" Erik managed to ask through his shock. He had not thought that Apollo would have been Ariel's love interest at some point. He didn't think anymore since she had switched her tail for legs to be with him. At most Erik had thought of Apollo being a brother perhaps. Or, since Ariel was the Sea King's daughter, a security detail of some sort.

"Yes", Ariel said looking a bit lost and sighing. "We… were."

Apollo flinched at Ariel's last word and looked at her shock and betrayal evident in his face. One could see his heart hurting, but the only one saw was Flounder as Ariel was turned towards the Prince and Erik was focused on Ariel's words and feeling relieved that Ariel confirmed his thoughts. Sharply Apollo turned his head away and struggled to hide his pain, he would not let that two-legged Prince see him in such a state!

They weren't able to exchange any more word as the battle raging between the Sea King and the Sea Witch descended upon them in form of a explosion nearly at their backs. Apollo, distracted by Ariel's words had not noticed this and cursed himself to the deepest crevice in the Seven Seas. All four of them were thrown from their hideaway by the blast and Apollo quickly got his bearings and located Ariel. He swam to her quickly and grabbed her, and Flounder when he passed the fish, taking them farther from the battle. Apollo cursed to himself, he shouldn't have let them stay so close to Ursula's Lair. What if Ariel would have gotten hurt?

Apollo dared a glance towards the fighting pair, ducking again quickly at the sight of flying curses and blasts all around them. Apollo, to his grief, had not ducked quickly enough as to not notice the human Prince who had flown into a different direction as them and seemed now to be unconscious and floating slowly away from the fighting. And them. He had noticed him in time to guess Ariel's next move and rushed to hold her down behind the stone formation they were hiding in.

"Apollo! Let me go. I have to help him!"

"Are you crazy? If you go out there now, you'll get caught in the crossfire! I can't let you go!" Apollo said pressing them both against the rocks covering Ariel with his own armored body, when a nasty looking curse flew over them as if to prove Apollo's point.

"But what if he gets hurt?!" Ariel cried out panic swelling inside at the mere thought.

Apollo glimpsed at the Prince and ducked back down. "He'll be fine", Apollo claimed sounding exasperated. "He's nearly at the current. It'll take him straight to home."

Apollo knew his prediction was most likely to come true, his words not just empty platitudes for Ariel. The current that ran from this area to the coast of whatever kingdom the Prince hailed from would snatch the man in its grip, take him all the way home (well, almost) and would slow down in a turning point enough for the unconscious human to drift away from the current and most likely to the shore.

"But, what if-", Ariel tried but Apollo cut her off.

"I'm not going to let you out there until your father has gotten rid of Ursula!"

Ariel sagged against Apollo and sighed heavily as she gave up trying to argue with him. Apollo wrapped his arms around her, holding her close and fearing that this would be one of the last times he might be able to do this, as the battle between Triton and Ursula raged on to be finally ended when Triton would strike her with his trident and causing the Sea Witch to blow up. Ariel and Apollo both jumped as the contract Ariel had taken with them crumbled into a glittering dust of seaweed and gold.

Apollo and Ariel peeked above the rocks to find the Sea King catching his breath in front of Ursula's crumbled lair with tens, maybe over a hundred mermen and mermaids exclaiming their joy at finally being free. Apollo swam a bit higher and was about to call to the King when he saw Ariel from the corner of his eyes speeding off to the current.

"Ariel!" Apollo called after her, but the wild young mermaid gave no indication that she heard. The King however did hear him and came upon him in a flash. Apollo pointed at the diminishing figure that was Ariel, a look of hopelessness shadowing his face.

"She went after the human Prince", Apollo informed the King demurely.

The King sighed heavily and stared sorrowfully after his youngest daughter.


	6. Ariel's Choice

**A/N:** And the last chapter. Or more like an epilogue kind of thingy.

Enjoy!

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6. Ariel's Choice

Ariel rushed to the current, diving into it and deftly navigating in the strong pull of the water swam along the current trying to see Erik's unconscious form. The way from Ursula's Lair to Erik's home if one used the current, it was but a moment and you were nearly at the slower bend of the current which marked the exit for Erik's home. Ariel was sure that Flounder and Sebastian had used this current to their advantage when they had gotten her to the surface and to Erik's Castle.

Ariel finally caught sight of Erik at the bend of the current and hurried towards him. She worried for him so. She knew that he could breathe underwater for now, since Apollo had given him a pearl, but that didn't mean he was alright. Apollo's unconcerned attitude infuriated her to no end. Just because Erik was human did not mean that he could be written off like an abandoned shell!

Ariel stopped by Erik and took a hold of his arm as Apollo's words about him being jealous ran through her mind. She hated her situation. She loved Apollo. And she loved Erik. It hurt to think she had caused pain to the people she loved, her father and sisters as well as Apollo, but she knew, she just _knew_, that she would be forever yearning for the Land if she stayed in the Sea. The Land fascinated her and Erik, Ariel glanced fondly at the human man she was towing towards the shore, Erik had something in him that allured her to him.

Ariel reached the shore and with some difficulty pulled Erik up, away from the waves. She stayed there for a moment, staring at her human's beautiful face, before slowly retreating to the water and swimming to a nearby rock. She pulled herself up and sat there gazing at the shore and the Prince. Her legs were gone. She wanted those legs back, so that she could walk along the beach and feel the sand between her toes. So that she could dance through the night with Erik, so that she could wander the kingdom and explore the human world.

Ariel sighed longingly and didn't notice the golden haired head that surfaced short distance from her rock behind her. She had been staring at the beach for awhile now and the Prince was still out. The head in the distance disappeared under the waves and Apollo swam slowly closer to Ariel. He paused beneath the surface next to the rock to look at Ariel. She was so beautiful, Apollo sighed within his mind. He didn't understand Ariel's longing to live on Land. He understood her curiosity, he didn't think there was anything wrong with being curious, but to want to live away from the Sea? No, that Apollo just couldn't understand. Neither could he understand this strange obsession she had towards the human Prince. It had to be an obsession. Surely no one fell in love with someone after seeing them from a distance for a few times? To consider the person attractive, that was understandable, but even then you'd need to get to know them, right?

Apollo surfaced and Ariel turned startled to look at him. "Apollo!"

The merman looked back forlornly. "Ariel."

Ariel opened her mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out. She didn't know what to say. She looked at Apollo feeling miserable. Apollo was watching her intently and Ariel wondered what he saw in her now. Apollo sprang up from the water, leaning against the rock and cupping her face with his hand. He stroked her cheek softly with his thumb.

"You aren't going to let him go, are you?" Apollo asked, sure of the answer. Ariel shook her head demurely, hating herself for hurting Apollo like this, but she had already started to think how she could get herself legs again. The merman in question sighed and trailed his hand along Ariel's jaw. Then moved his hand behind Ariel's neck, he pulled himself up a little more and drew the mermaid into a kiss. Ariel wished he hadn't done that. This didn't feel anything like their kisses before. This felt like… like goodbye.

Apollo withdrew and lowered himself back to the water. He looked like he was about to leave when Ariel stopped him. "Apollo?"

The merman looked at Ariel questioningly.

"Do… do you hate me?" Ariel asked. She didn't know what she'd do if he did. He had all the right to do that, after everything Ariel had done, but she still hoped that he didn't. A small something eased in her heart when Apollo shook his head.

"No, I don't' hate you, Ariel. I love you too much for that", the look on Apollo's face implied that he should know better in his own opinion. "I am _really_ angry at you, though. Probably will be for a long time."

Ariel twitched her hand nearly reaching out to Apollo. "I'm sorry."

Apollo smiled wryly at the sincere apology. "I can see that. It just doesn't help much", he sighed and swam further from the rock. "I'm going to go now. I'll… I'll see you. Maybe."

Before Ariel could get another word out, Apollo had dived under the water and Ariel was left staring at the rippling water where the merman had been just seconds before. Ariel bit her lip and shook her head sharply. For a short moment she had almost went after Apollo, but she stopped herself and glanced back at Erik. It wouldn't be fair to Apollo, would it? To go with him, and then keep thinking about Erik and being on Land.

She went back to staring at Erik and waiting for him to wake not noticing another figure surfacing further behind her. The Sea King looked at his wayward daughter with a look of tenderness and a hint of sadness. Sebastian appeared next to him seeming quite melancholic as well.

"She really does love him, doesn't she, Sebastian?" the King sighed.

"It would seem so, Your Majesty", the crab said.

Triton looked at Ariel for a moment longer before laying his trident along the surface and with a heavy heart gave his daughter her legs. Sebastian stared at the King taken completely off guard as Ariel surprised and delighted gasp was heard by the rock. Triton and Sebastian watched side by side as Ariel dashed from the rock and reached the beach just as the human Prince woke up. They really did look happy, Sebastian thought. But he really couldn't but wonder what on earth did Ariel see in Erik, when Apollo was right there?

xXx

The wedding of Ariel and Erik was held a week later. Only thing that was same with it as with the earlier wedding was the location. They kept it at sea, so that Ariel's family and the merpeople could join as well. The rest of the details were changed however. No one wanted much to remind them about the Prince nearly marrying the Sea Witch.

Ariel's sisters were a little confused at the speed of the proceedings and, as any other merman or mermaid in the kingdom, of the fact that Ariel wasn't marrying Apollo as everyone thought she was being courted by him. Most of the merpeople were happy of Ariel's happiness, though, and didn't worry about it too much. Her sisters however didn't buy it so easily and had been trying to get a hold of Apollo the entire week who in turn had done his best to avoid them as well as he could. He really didn't want to get into it with Ariel's sisters.

Apollo himself didn't intend to go to the wedding when he first heard the date. He didn't feel like going to see the woman she loved marrying someone else. But in the end he couldn't stay away completely. The temptation to see Ariel once more before she'd disappear to the human world proved too great. He did stay out of sight, though, observing the human guests from just below the surface. He saw the slightly wary looks of the two legged guests when they thought the royals weren't looking. He was a bit worried about that and wondered how Ariel would manage with them. Or how would _they_ manage, now that the human kingdom near Atlantica knew of the merfolk.

Apollo backed up a bit further below the surface when he saw Ariel looking carefully around in searching manner as she embraced her father. He didn't know why, but while he had this urge to see Ariel one last time, he really didn't want her to see him. Perhaps he was afraid, Apollo thought absently, that Ariel would do something that unknowingly would cause him even more of a heartache.

"Well, at least she's happy."

Apollo started at the voice and turned to look at Sebastian who had appeared next to him. The crab was looking at Ariel with a mixture happiness and sadness. Apollo wasn't quite sure if the crab's happiness originated from Ariel's happily ever after or from the fact that he no longer had to teach her. Apollo turned back to look at Ariel as well.

"I suppose so", Apollo sighed.

Sebastian glanced at Apollo. "Are you alright?"

The merman shrugged looking puzzled. "No, not really. I thought that we were in love. I _am_ in love with her. And she says she's in love with me, yet she still marries the human."

Sebastian laid his pincer on Apollo's shoulder in a gentle manner. "The best thing for you to do is move on, young man."

"I don't think it'll last", Apollo muttered too quietly for Sebastian to hear.

"What?"

"I said, I don't think it'll last", Apollo repeated. "She loves human things and is fascinated by everything on Land, but I _know_ she loves the Sea. More than Land even though she says otherwise. She's stubborn, so it's probably going to take time for her to admit it. But she's going to have to, eventually."

Sebastian tilted his head. "And you think she's going to come back?"

"Probably. She might stay if that human Prince really does have her heart and if he loves her. But somehow I doubt it", Apollo answered.

"You don't think they love each other?" Sebastian asked uncertainly.

Apollo shrugged. "I'm sure they believe that. And maybe they do love each other. But really, Sebastian, the Prince has known Ariel for ten days. And Ariel the same, plus that time you said she spent stalking him. Maybe I'm just biased because I'm the one not chosen, but I'm really not so sure that they can last."

"Hmm. Maybe you're right", Sebastian said, "but people, especially young people, have got to be free to lead their own lives, mistakes and all. Ariel's choices lead her wherever they lead. You need to make some choices too, Apollo. Or will you be forever wallowing after her once she's gone?"

"I don't know. I hope not. But I don't think I can stop loving her, Sebastian", Apollo said.

"Hmh. Well, we'll see what the time brings with it."

Apollo gave a fleeting smiled to the crab while thinking that Sebastian wasn't all that bad in the end. When you got past the annoying parts. The merman and the crab returned to watch the last of the ceremonies before the happy couple waved goodbye to the merfolk and the ship sailed to the sunset. Apollo watched the ship as long as he could until it disappeared into the horizon, no doubt returning to land at some point to drop off the human guests, his hands curling into fists.

His love had chosen another man and he could do nothing about it and he hated it. However, he was fairly sure that Ariel would eventually come back. And he would be waiting for that day, hoping that Ariel would still love him and hoping that they hadn't grown too much apart by then.

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**A/N:** I'm awful! I'm a terrible person to torture poor Apollo like this! I'm even more terrible since I'll be torturing him with unrequited love for the next twelve… fourteen… no, fifteen years. Yep, that sounds about right. I'm awful, I know.

Yes, there's going to be a sequel :)


End file.
